Fate's Persona
by Organization Number 15
Summary: One year after P4 Golden, Yu Narukami returns to the Velvet room only to learn of a new anomaly in the TV World threatening the fates of his friends. Meanwhile, Naoto's investigation of several missing students leads her to the elusive & dangerous 'Sachiko Ever After' charm. Will the Investigation team trump their fate to save the victims of Sachiko's curse & uncover the truth?
1. Many Months Later

**Hey everyone!**

 **I actually had the idea of creating this particular series after finishing Persona 4 Golden and watching Nico B's Let's Play of Corpse Party, although even I will even admit this is a very strange crossover. Regardless, I do believe this story has a lot of potential, and I do plan on making it a series to work on while developing Book Four: Light. I do not intend to prioritize either project; rather, I will write them at my own pace with full intention of providing the best material that I can.**

 **I wanted a series with a much darker tone and a focus on character development over plot (as I intend to stay rather consistent with the plot of Corpse Party with a few minor changes and, of course, a few Personas and Shadows thrown in) as well as maintain some of the suspense and horror Corpse Party is known and loved for. In other words, there will be battles, but compared to Book 4 Light, these battles will be toned down and will occur less often. I also wanted to emphasize on the mystery surrounding Heavenly Host, the serial murder case, and its connections (in this world) to the world of Persona 4. Also, any Naoto fans will most likely love this series as her detective side will definitely be exploited in this series.**

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 **Edit: However, I do want to note that, despite this being a darker fanfic, I initially wrote this to also cast some hope into the bleak, Corpse Party plot, something that Persona 4 has always been good at doing, so my goal in writing this fic is also to right a few wrongs as well while uncovering the full truth.**

DISCLAIMERS:

This story follows the events of the PSP ported version of the Corpse Party remake (Corpse Party BloodCovered:...Repeated Fear), not the original 1996 version made for PC-9801, which features a slightly different plot.

Also, the events of this particular story will take place in fall of 2012. I know this will create inconsistencies with the original Corpse Party (since it took place around 2003), but just bare with me.

 **Also, as always, any music suggestions will be placed in brackets as a recommendation for a particular part of a chapter (Edit: realizing I didn't even put the music in brackets...anyways, I originally wrote the second half of this Chapter listening to "Heaven" from the Persona 4 ost, but I felt that "reasoning" fit much better, especially since I only just found the track for it.**

 **Anyways...**

 **Enjoy!**

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[Aria of Soul (Velvet Room music) – Persona 4]

Yu Narukami woke up on a cushioned seat, his head dazed from a seemingly interrupted sleep. Inhaling, he postured himself into a sitting position, placing his hands on his knees for support. He realized he was in a setting all too familiar, despite having left Inaba many months ago. A setting he hoped he never had to see again in fear of the worst: that the fog would return.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," the pitched, but refined tone of Igor could be heard from the other side of the room. The blue, velvet setting was sinking in and he could make out Margaret and Marie at the other end of the limousine.

"Why am I here?" Yu attempted to keep his composure, but fear and irritation edged his tone.

Marie looked away and Igor turned his gaze towards Margaret.

"If you think you are here because of the fog that once threatened your world, be at ease," she spoke softly, but confidently. Yu relaxed his shoulders.

"Then why call me?" Yu asked.

"It seems that an unnatural phenomenon is occurring, one out of the Velvet Room's reach," Igor folded his hands on the circular table in front of him.

"To put it simply, there's a problem elsewhere that only you can solve," Marie shuffled in her seat.

"It's been a while, Marie," Yu smiled amiably, but she crossed her arms in contempt.

"…You should have visited me more…" Marie complained, turning her head away again. Yu sighed; he couldn't help that he needed to return to the city. He missed everybody dearly, but it's not like he can visit Inaba whenever he wanted. He decided to put that aside and focus on the problem.

"Please continue," Yu urged.

"Of course," Margaret folded her hands, "Do you recall the Hollow Forest?"

"…yes,"

"Much like the Hollow Forest, it seems that another, similar space has been located by the Velvet Room. Whatever this place is, it seems to be born from the mind of a corrupted soul and is tied to the fate of many people, including the bonds you have forged and an old friend long lost to time."

"An old friend?" Yu seemed puzzled.

"In time, you will find this friend and perhaps rediscover an old bond, but it is not the Velvet Room's role to intervene in your journey, merely to assist," Margaret turned to Igor.

"Ah yes," Igor sat up, "It seems that your destiny has reached a crossroads. If you choose to ignore this anomaly and continue your life, you will not be affected by the travesty that is to come. The existence of those involved will be erased from your memory and you will live on without incident. However, if you choose to pursue this anomaly, you will face an uncertain future riddled with pain and misery, a future where I cannot guarantee your success. Regardless of the path you choose, the people you have formed a bond with will most certainly face their demise if you do not intervene or succeed at changing their fate."

"Much like before, if you do not seek the truth and overcome this adversity fully, your fate will succumb to the rules of that nexus and any chance of overcoming fate lost," Margaret intervened, "If you choose not to intervene at all, your friends will most certainly perish and the cycle of pain continued."

Yu remained silent, thinking through the situation at hand. He needed clarification.

"So what must I do in order to prevent this fate?" he asked.

"If you manage to sever the bonds holding that nexus together and endings its purpose for existing, you may be able to collapse that space entirely, much like the Hollow Forest," Margaret explained. Marie shifted in her seat when overhearing the Hollow Forest, but refused to make eye contact with Yu.

"But be warned. This space is unlike anything you have encountered thus far and is much more dangerous," Igor leaned further on his folded hands, his hunched back shifting his weight to his head, "I cannot guarantee a portal out of this space nor can I offer my assistance once you have entered this space."

"It doesn't matter," Yu decided, "if I can prevent meaningless deaths, I will, especially for those who mean a lot to me. It's that simple, no more, no less."

"You better be sure about making it back then," Marie suddenly spoke, "I won't accept anything less."

"I'll make it out," Yu feigned confidence.

"So be it," Igor nodded his head, "this will be most interesting, indeed. The path to this space will unfold to you if you return to the spot where you were first granted power on a rainy day. Be aware of the contract you will inevitably make as well; even the smallest of words contain the greatest of meanings."

Yu nodded, "I will keep that in mind."

"I will bestow upon you these final gifts. You will understand what you must do with it when the time comes," Igor handed Yu a roll of tape, a piece of paper, and a pack of blue chalk. The tape dispenser was patted with blue velvet tiles, the tape itself completely transparent. The pack of blue chalk was nothing special, but matched the color of the blue velvet walls. The piece of paper contained a note, showing a blue pentagram and the words "for your protection" underneath it. There was also a phrase scribbled at the bottom.

 _When united, there is always one more_

"What are these?" Yu asked.

"We are not entirely sure," Margaret answered, "but we do know that these three items are tied to your fate. Keep them safe and do not lose them."

"I understand," Yu responded, still confused. He folded the paper and stuffed the paper, tape and chalk snuggly into his pocket.

"May fortune be on your side. I hope you will join us again," Igor delivered his parting words and Yu fell into a daze, back into sleep.

* * *

[Reasoning – Persona 4]

Naoto rested her head on her hand, staring at a computer monitor. Fall had already descended upon Inaba and the cultural festival was just around the corner, but the young detective was hardly concerned with festivities. She had a case and she was going to crack it, regardless of the consequences.

"Several cases of missing children reports on record simply dropped as if they never existed…and now this," she sighed. She was looking at a picture of Yuuya Kizami, labeled a delinquent – and even suspected as being dangerous – based on several reports from school records as well as several testimonies from teachers and classmates. Apparently, he and several other high school students suddenly disappeared a few days ago and the police have finally wised up to consider a connection between the missing child reports.

As to how these reports connected, however, is what Naoto couldn't figure out. The only connection between the incidents is that all the victims have been students throughout Japan and that usually more than one student disappears at a time, but their ages were not consistent and the chosen victims seemed to be random. It seemed logical to assume that a stronger, more solid connection could be found, but she felt as if she lacked critical information to final a solid lead.

What disturbed Naoto, if anything, was a rumor associated with the disappearances. The Sachiko charm, performing a ritual with a proxy doll by chanting 'Sachiko, we beg of you' and pulling apart the limbs of the doll, was believed to be a charm that strengthened the bonds between precious friends, but unverified sources call it witchcraft, causing the participants to suddenly disappear. Now Naoto did not believe in supernatural phenomenon in the traditional sense; scientific evidence merely did not support the existence of ghosts…but to Naoto, this felt all too familiar to the rumor surrounding the Midnight Channel and Naoto knew not to trust in logic to explain 'that world'. She hadn't been able to test the charm, since the charm required multiple people and she wasn't familiar with how to perform it step by step, but if there is a link between the charm and the disappearances, there might be incentive to explore the possibility that it has a connection to the TV world, Shadows, or Persona.

 _If these students are being taken somewhere, why can't they be found? If they are in the TV world, then why do they not appear on the Midnight channel and why do they break the pattern of the original case? And just how long have these disappearances been going on for?_

Chie, who has been training to join the police force herself, has also been assisting her in this case and had pointed out an interesting theory of her own: what if where they students were being taken to a place inside the TV like the Hollow Forest? While this theory seemed unlikely, this would answer the previous questions Naoto had been pondering, but there were too many elements of uncertainty.

The only way to know for sure was to either perform the Sachiko charm herself or to contact _him_ in hopes that he can find that woman, Margaret, and have her lead a search party once more. Unfortunately, he wasn't coming to Inaba anytime soon and Naoto had no idea of how to contact that mysterious woman on her own…

What concerned Naoto more was that the Sachiko charm was just beginning to become popular in Inaba, and while there have been no missing people reports yet, Yukiko, Yosuke, and the others have been talking about doing it for fun after the cultural festival in honor of the original Investigation team. Naoto didn't want to be paranoid about the charm – it was unbecoming of her to be the superstitious type, after all – but she wanted to gather more information before jumping to any conclusions. Simultaneously, she didn't want to repeat the same mistake of when the group dismissed Adachi's letter threatening Nanako's abduction.

She sighed.

"I hope I'm doing the right thing…"

Tired, she decided to retire for the night.

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 **I hope you enjoyed! Make sure to review if you have any constructive feedback for me; I'd appreciate it. ^_^**


	2. Going back to Inaba

**Hey everyone!**

 **So I've been debating, even though this is rather minor, but I decided to start incorporating other tracks from other OSTs into my stories from now on. I was only able to keep a consistent track in my Kingdom Hearts fanfics because KH's soundtrack is so versatile and the series has a million games already, so I had plenty of pieces to choose from. While the Persona series has great music, to which I will make very good use of, and Corpse Party has great tracks as well, there aren't that many of either in comparison and finding specific Corpse Party tracks on YouTube is rather difficult. To better capture the scene, as a result, I will outsource my tracks from now on.**

 **Well, I hope you enjoy! This chapter isn't incredibly long, but I feel it does better standing alone and it's a critical piece nonetheless.**

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[The Fragrance of Dark Coffee – Ace Attorney Jazz Collection]

Yu sat in his bedroom, looking outside his apartment bedroom window. The cars below rushed by as storm clouds gathered in full witness of the setting sun in the distance. The buildings towered over the commotion uncaringly, titans in a field full of ants. As troubled as the sun, Yu folded his fingers, leaning back in his computer chair, with one finger rhythmically tapping his other hand in an effort to keep his mind tethered to the moment. He thought about what Igor told him, contemplating his next move, but he faced a rather large problem.

 _How am I supposed to get to Inaba?_

It was in the middle of the senior school year and regardless of whatever scenario he thought up, there was no way his parents would allow him to visit Inaba. Despite the fact that Yu's scored at the top of his class on multiple occasions in Inaba, he couldn't deny how competitive school in the city was and with college entrance exams as well as finals on the horizon, there were very few instances of free time available to him thanks to his parent's strict study schedule. The only reason why he had this time to think was because his parents believed he was doing his independent studies, thanks to his computer and a college prep website he was 'reviewing'. This is not to say that his parents were authoritarian by any means; he parents were very open and loved him, but they valued his education more than anything so that he wouldn't have to constantly move around like they did. However, his parent's weren't so open to believe him if he suddenly told them that his friends were in trouble or that he needed to be back in Inaba.

Yu considered contacting Dojima directly, seeing if he could pull a few strings since he knew about the TV world, but there was too little information on the lead he was pursuing and he didn't think Dojima would be able to convince his parents into letting him go, assuming that Yu could even convince him. Besides, if he could, Yu wanted to prevent getting Dojima, and especially Nanako, wrapped up in all of this, especially if this nexus was as dangerous as Igor alluded to.

Feeling hopeless, Yu turned around in his seat and turned the television in the corner on quietly in hopes to clear his mind. Flipping channels, he noticed a promotional ad from Rise on, stopping his surfing to watch his old friend advertise Inaba's steak skewers. Yu smiled bitter sweetly; Rise was the only other one who left Inaba for the city, in her case to work as an idol. However, she could easily return to her grandmothers in Inaba if she found a break in her schedule and especially when her work demanded her to be in Inaba to help with the city's revival plan. He rarely ever saw Rise when she was in the city either, since she mostly worked on different sets everyday while she was here. When the ad finished, Yu continued to flip through channels careless until he stopped at the weather report, an old habit he couldn't quite let go of. Now, he mostly watched the weather to support Marie, even if he couldn't always talk to her.

"It seems that some overdue rain will be hitting our region and will continue for a few days. People in more mountainous regions are advised to be careful when driving down slopes in case of mudslides and coastal areas are expected to receive minimal flood advisories. This must be some day to lose your job, huh?" Yu's eyebrow rose at Marie's last comment.

"Now for the traffic report," Marie's segment was over. Yu decided to turn off the TV, not thinking that his parents might overhear him slacking off. Almost as if in accordance with his train of thought, he heard knocking at his door.

[End music]

"May I come in?" he could hear his mother outside his door. Yu let her in, beckoning for her to take a seat on his bed. He sat back down at his computer desk.

"I don't know how to tell you this, but…" his mother's defeated look started to make Yu panic internally. Typically, she was as calm and collected as he was, but whatever she was trying to say, he could feel the emotion, the worry, the fear trembling through her muscles and into her dampened expression. She couldn't look Yu in the face.

"Look, you're old enough to understand that the Japanese economy could be doing better and that it's a tough world out there," his mother tried to explain, but her words became jumbled, "and we can't always live in luxury, so what I'm trying to say is…"

"Mom," Yu looked into her eyes, "I understand. Whatever happened, I will understand."

"Ok, ok," she calmed herself, "thank you. I wasn't acting like myself." She took a deep breath and looked straight at Yu, much more composed than previously.

"Yu…your father and I lost our jobs today. The company had to do layoffs and over a third of the work force received the pink slip. I know this won't be easy, but we might have to move in with my brother for a little while, at least until we can find a job. We just want to make sure you can still receive an education and get into a good university."

"I see," Yu kept his voice calm and leveled. He looked at his mother empathetically, "I really am sorry. They didn't deserve you and dad, anyways."

"Thanks, hon." His mom cracked a smile. "Your dad's taking it pretty rough, right now, so we can discuss it as a family later, but at least you get to be with your friends in Inaba."

"Yeah," Yu smiled in reassurance, "and maybe we can find you a job up there."

"We'll do whatever we have to, so just make sure you keep studying. We'll find a cheap house up in Inaba and find work somehow."

"I'm sure Yukiko could convince her mother to let you stay for cheap at the Amagi Inn for a few days and maybe Yosuke's parents can hire you at Junes," Yu suggested.

"Thanks. I don't want to impose on them, though," his mother was a proud woman and Yu knew it. Regardless, he felt as if she was reassured by his suggestions in case their situation goes any further south. His mother left his room feeling a little lighter, closing her door on her way out.

[Persona 1 (PSP) ost - School Days]

Yu honestly felt bad for his parents, but a part of him couldn't hide the excitement and relief he was feeling simultaneously. Selfishly enough, Yu missed his friends back in Inaba and felt little motivation in adapting to his new school in the city; he struggled with letting go of the past, but perhaps that was because he felt that Inaba was where he belonged. He also missed seeing his parents, Dojima and Nanako; maybe going to Inaba meant he could be around his family more, which would be a nice change of pace before heading off to college. More so, however, Yu also felt relieved that he could pursue this lead without any obstacles, especially if his friends were in danger. Having the Investigation team in one area most of the time reassured him somehow; it might even be more necessary that they stick together than he previously thought.

Yu couldn't help but think of Naoto in all of this, too. He left a promising relationship with an intelligent, cunning, yet bashfully cute girl, which made leaving Inaba that much more painful. They occasionally exchanged letters, old-fashioned of course, but despite their exchanges, Yu longed for the day they could reunite without fear of being separated again. He knew Naoto had a lot she was working out as well, and he always tried to encourage her to be the person she wanted to be, the girl he honestly admired, although he still wondered how much Naoto has changed since he last saw her. Regardless, Yu missed having someone to talk to who could be on the same level with him, who reassured him in difficult times and reminded him of how curious the world truly was.

A nagging voice in the back of his mind reminded him of his situation: his parents did lose their jobs and a terrible fate was about to befall his friends. Yu knew that he should try to be there as much as he could for his folks and keep a keen eye on his friends. He also remembered Igor's words:

 _The path to this space will unfold to you if you return to the spot where you were first granted power._

Yu made a mental note to return to the gas station entrance when he and his parents arrived into town, and in this moment, ironically, he remembered Marie's words from mere minutes ago.

 _This must be some day to lose your job, huh?_

He was also going to pay Marie a visit as soon as he got back to Inaba with a few choice words.

He knew better than to deny his true feelings, though.

He was going back to Inaba!

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(Shaded Truths – Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep music)

"heh...

heheh...

haha...

heh ha...

Ha..ha..heh..."

Sachiko grinned at the disgruntled Yu, who was barely managing to stand on his feet. On the floor beside him laid one male and one female body, knocked out cold. Yu gritted his teeth, glaring at her with absolute contempt. He hated her. He wanted to rip her apart, slice her into pieces, make her suffer painfully for the rest of eternity…and yet neither his eyes nor his body could disguise the terror running through his veins. He was cornered prey, powerless to change his fate, and he knew it.

"Are you done already? I'm booored," Sachiko rolled her eyes, whining impatiently.

"Hehe…hahaha…" he chuckled to himself pathetically, covering his face with his palm, "heheh…heheheh…."

Sachiko grinned, laughed with him, mocking him, making light of his entire situation. His hatred returned his focus to her, his arm falling limp to his side, his fist clenching tightly.

"...Izanagi..." he spoke. Nothing.

"...Izanagi!" he raised his voice. Nothing.

"IZANAGI!" he yelled, falling to his knees in front of Sachiko.

"IZANAGI-NO-OKAMI! WHERE ARE YOU?!" He screamed, pounding his fist into the wall. He was defeated…he lost everything…he failed. It didn't matter anymore, did it? Izanagi was gone. The Wild card, his Personas, were no longer his. He no longer had the strength or ability to fight. He might as well accept his fate. As Yu thought this, black fluid began to drain from his mouth, pooling quickly onto the floor beneath him, the thickness and consistency all too similar to blood. His hands slowly submerged into the dark liquid, as if the pool intended on sucking him in.

For some reason, though, he could only think about how his glasses were slowly beginning to crack…

"I'm done playing with you," Sachiko waved her hand dismissively, "bu-bye."

* * *

[continue previous track]

Yu woke up screaming, his lungs straining, gasping for air. He turned on his bedside lamp, allowing himself to take in his familiar city room. He hyperventilated for what seemed like minutes, maybe even hours, unable to get the picture of the girl out of his mind.

 _What the hell was that?_ He tried regaining his bearings, searching for answers, but only unveiling new questions.

Where was I? _Who were those two laying beside me? Why couldn't I summon Izanagi? And what happened to me?_

 _It felt as if I was underground…no, that's not the right word…claustrophobic, perhaps? As if I was trapped inside a box with a demon…_

Yu considered this dream to be an omen of what was to come. He's been through enough in the past not to overlook such an obvious sign…not to mention he's seen enough movies to know how such dreams play out.

Yu sighed; regardless of what would happen, he couldn't cower now. He needed to protect his friends; he refused to abandon them, to leave them alone to face such a terrible fate. Besides, his fate hasn't been determined yet. At least, he hoped so. After drinking two glasses of water, Yu collapsed into bed, almost too scared to return to sleep. After reflecting a little more, there was only one thing Yu Narukami knew for sure.

He was going back to Inaba.

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 **I hope you enjoyed.**


	3. Golden Days

**Before I begin, may I say that when I was uploading this to , I realized that this isn't only the longest chapter I have ever written, but I even exceeded 5000 words. Then again, what do you expect when it involves the large cast of Persona 4?**

 **Also, sorry for such a long wait with this series. Fate's Persona, unlike Book Four: Light, is still in its early stages and while I know how the plot will advance, I still gotta work out all the details, especially since Persona 4 and Corpse Party both have an element of mystery in them. This series, even if planned to be shorter than Book Four: Light, will still be amazingly complex in some regards to write, so I have to take my time and pace myself with these entries. I'll be more on top of writing these chapters, nonetheless, in the future.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoy the trip back to Inaba.**

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Yu Narukami sat in the back of his parent's car, the road's bumpy texture abusing the wheels as they climbed up the hillside. Trees stretched across miles of land to his left and damp rice fields were attended to dedicated, hard-working farmers to his right, the lovely blue sky draping over the natural beauty of the countryside.

"Are you excited to see your uncle and cousin again?" his mother didn't turn her head, but Yu could tell that a hint of excitement came from her voice. Despite getting fired recently, his mother must have really missed her brother. Not waiting for him to respond, she began rambling on.

"You know, this was my hometown too, but I was young and felt that the city called me away. Your uncle wasn't as ambitious, but he already found your aunt by then and wanted to settle down. Then he had Nanako and became a police detective, but I'm sure you already knew all that!" His mother continued to ramble incoherently, prompting his father to look at him through the mirror.

"Don't mind your mother. She always rambles when she gets nervous," he laughed, but his tone felt forced and lacked enthusiasm. Yu could tell he was still shook from getting laid off; his father didn't like change and for the most part, Yu didn't either.

"Oh dear, you need to try and let that go," his mother encouraged his father, "there's honestly nothing we could do and it wasn't like we weren't doing good work. They laid off the entire department, so it's not your burden to bear. Besides, we can spend more time with Yu now, at least after we find a house."

"Well, alright," his father nodded, "it could be good to find something new to do, anyways."

"You could always work with my brother," his mother suggested, "ever since Adachi was put behind bars, he's needed a new partner."

"Hmm…maybe…" his father considered it. Yu knew that his father and mother worked for a private security contractor for high profile individuals, and the reason why they were gone a whole year was because they were entrusted with guarding a business executive who traveled often. This was the very reason why Yu, when he first visited Inaba, already had some combat skills when facing the Shadows; his parents trained him in self-defense to prepare him for anything the city threw at him, including weapons training.

[Your Affection – Persona 4 Golden OST]

"Oh, we're here!" his mother said enthusiastically as they peaked the hill. Down below them, Inaba awaited, busier than ever thanks to the restoration projects going around town. The city was visibly more vibrant with townsfolk and tourists walking the streets alike, and as they drove through the central shopping district, Yu could see more and more businesses lining the street with plenty of customers wondering in and out, some with decisive intent and other with probing curiosity. The quietness of the town hasn't gone away, but the streets didn't feel lonely anymore. This was Inaba after the fog had cleared, the Inaba he and his friends did their best to protect and the result was better than Yu could have imagined.

Driving down familiar neighborhood streets, people were out on walks, enjoying the nice, yet brisk fall weather. Students were walking home and among them, Yu recognized Shu, a student he used to tutor from some time ago. He fiddled with his glasses as he casually walked down the street with a few friends from school, laughing modestly. A grin formed on Yu's face from the sight; it seemed that Shu finally met some good friends of his own. Continuing down the road, Yu passed many familiar faces from high school; he didn't talk to them, really, but the familiarity of their routine almost felt nostalgic. Among the small packs of students, though, he did manage to see Kou and Daisuke, who were walking with the basketball and soccer teams.

 _The teams must have been getting bigger, huh?_

As they turned the corner, his parents finally stopped in front of the Dojima residence, where a hearty Dojima and an excited Nanako waited, waving their greeting. As Yu got out of the car, Nanako ran up to him and hugged his waist.

"Big bro!" She smiled before pulling away. Yu patted her head affectionately before bending down to get a good look at her. She's grown since the last time he saw her, perhaps an inch or two, and her hair was much longer than before. Despite her older appearance, however, she was just as youthful as when he left her half a year ago.

"How've you been?" Yu asked.

"I've been ok. Daddy's been staying home more often and has been doing his best to become more useful around the house. I've also been studying more." She smiled in satisfaction of her accomplishments, which tickled Yu's heart.

"I'm glad you've been doing your best with your dad." Yu stood back up as Dojima finished greeting his mother and father. Dojima stood there at first, gazing over Yu with a finger on his chin.

"I know I said you looked like a man when I left," Dojima began, "but it seems that you've really grown into the part. It's nice to have you back." Yu offered a polite hand.

"Oh, we're family. You don't have to be so formal." Dojima gave Yu a light hug, patting him on the back before pulling away. "Nanako and I have missed you being around the house, so we spent all of last evening getting everything ready for you."

"Have you told anyone that I was coming yet?" Yu asked.

"Not yet," Nanako responded.

"We thought it would be more interesting if you surprised your friends at school," Dojima scratched the back of his head, grinning.

"It was my idea," Nanako smiled.

"I think I'll do just that," Yu grinned mischievously. Today was Thursday, three days before the annual cultural festival, so he had tomorrow to settle in and get prepared. He wanted to heed Igor's warning, but the day was going to end soon and he wasn't even sure what was in store for them. Panicking wasn't going to help and he had plenty of time before it rained. All he knew was that it was going to rain Saturday and he needed to be in the central shopping district when it happened.

"We're going to hole in up a hotel for a little while until we find some work and a house," Yu's mother told Dojima, "but I'll ask once more. Is it ok if Yu stays with you until then?"

"It's honestly not a problem. He's a part of the family and always will be," Dojima called Nanako over. "Anyways, dinner should be ready soon, so eat up before you head off."

"Thanks, Ryotaro," Yu's mother nodded respectfully.

"I made it tonight, so I hope you enjoy it." Nanako bashfully swayed.

"I'm sure they will. Thanks, Nanako," Yu smiled, following her in to eat dinner with the Dojimas for the first time in a long while.

[Stop music]

* * *

"Before we start class, I would like to introduce a new transfer student," the third year home room teacher, Ms. Fushigi, waves her hand to the door, where Yu was waiting outside. She was somewhat lengthy and appeared young for her profession despite wearing a conservative white blouse and matching black skirt, but her demeanor seemed much more relaxed than the mandated clothing she had to wear. She wore frame-less glasses, her grey, curly hair tamed back in a bun. Her eyes were relaxed, tinted slightly amber.

"Well, to some of you, he might be a familiar face, so I hope you're reunion is a pleasant one," the teacher smiled quaintly.

Meanwhile, in the center row, a familiar trio sat next to each other, a familiar scene from some time ago except that their collars now were marked with a roman numeral three.

"I wonder who it'll be." Chie looked back at Yosuke.

"Hmm…there might be a chance…" Yosuke pondered.

"No no no…NO WAY! Don't even joke about that! It couldn't be him," Chie protested, shaking her head adamantly.

"We don't know for sure yet, so let's not jump to any conclusions," Yukiko suggested, "but it would be nice if it were him…"

"Not you too, Yukiko," Chie slapped her hand against her face, "I want him to come back as well, but he hasn't called or anything."

By this time, Yu Narukami, expecting the awed faces of his friends, had already walked in and wrote his name on the chalkboard, rolling his eyes playfully with a smile as his friends bickered back and forth. Yu couldn't help but stifle a chuckle at the three oblivious, but kindhearted boneheads bickering over Yosuke's reasonable moment of optimism. Meanwhile, the class was murmuring to themselves.

"He's back."

"So he really did come back, huh?"

"I regretted not asking before. Now I'm sure I'll ask him out!"

"But didn't he already have a girlfriend here?"

"I'm glad someone more exciting has come back."

"Shut it! He might hear you."

"Ok, class, settle down," Ms. Fushigi sighed with a retired smile on her face, "so, I'll let you reintroduce yourself to your old classmates."

"Hello. My name is Yu Naru-"

"HE'S BACK!" Chie's voice drowned every remaining noise as she jumped out of her chair. She ran over to his side, muffling her excitement with her hands.

[Everyday Sunshine – Persona 4 Golden]

"Partner!" Yosuke got up as well, running over to him while putting an arm around his back affectionately.

"Yu, it's nice to have you back!" Yukiko smiled sweetly as she walked up to him as well. Just as Yukiko made her way to him, the classroom doors swung open.

"Senpai! It really is him! Come on, guys!" Rise yelled down the hallway, entering the classroom right before Kanji came hustling in.

"It's great…huff…to have you back…huff…Senpai!" Kanji slid into the classroom out of breath, but still maintained a level of cool exuberance in his introduction nonetheless.

"I dropped by your apartment building yesterday and the attendant told me you guys moved to Inaba," Rise explained, "I still had something to shoot that day, but I left the city as soon as I could. I rounded up whoever I could find to come and see you."

"I see. Thanks." Yu smiled, scratching the back of his head, overwhelmed by the greetings.

When Yu thought it was over, Teddie decided to burst into the classroom soon after – as his bishounen human self of course – running up to Yu while yelling gleefully.

"WELCOME BACK SENSEI!" Teddie stopped suddenly in the middle of the classroom, jokingly giving Yu a bow before fist pumping into the air. Hearing Yu being called sensei made Ms. Fushigi turn towards him, but she shrugged it off, murmuring to herself.

"I guess that's just how teenagers are," she crossed her arms, but smiled, "It can't be helped."

Rise looked outside the classroom, placing her hands on her hips indignantly, "Well, aren't you coming to greet him too?"

"Is it ok? We're intruding in the middle of a class, are we not?"

"Well, it's a bit late for that," Rise shrugged as well, "so just come in already! You probably missed him more than anyone!"

Still in the male Yasogami uniform with her signature blue hat on, a second year Naoto Shirogane entered the classroom, a dash of red on her cheeks as she walked up to him.

"Welcome back…Yu," she smiled.

* * *

"Wow, I have to admit, Ms. Fushigi is a really nice teacher," Chie spoke in astonishment. The eight of them were walking to Junes after a long school day. Yu was overwhelmed by the reception, but he was glad to have his reunion with…almost all of his good friends.

He'd definitely need to round up Marie the next chance he got…and give her a scolding while he was at it.

"Yeah, well, she is probably the most relaxed teacher I've ever had," Yosuke responded, "but enough about that. How was the city?" He looked expectantly at Yu.

"Well, it was fine, I guess. I had a few acquaintances back there that were happy to see me, but no real close friends, not like you guys," Yu sighed, "I'm glad to be back in Inaba. This is where I'm supposed to be."

"I'm glad to hear that," Yukiko nodded her head, smiling.

 _Oh yeah…Yukiko said she wanted to leave Inaba, but that's changed now, huh?_

Yukiko decided to take up the family business, to keep the Amagi Inn running with her family and staff. Yu wondered how she was managing, shifting into the new responsibilities. That reminded him…

"Hey, Yukiko?"

"Yes, Yu?"

"If it's ok," Yu looked down humbly, "would you mind taking in my parents for a little bit at the Amagi Inn? They're jobless right now and need somewhere to stay and I'm worried about them."

"I'll see what I can do," Yukiko responded without hesitation, catching Yu off guard. Not that she would turn his parents down, but how suddenly and decisively Yukiko responded to his request…she really has changed since the investigation days.

"Thank you. I am in your debt." Yu bowed respectfully.

"Oh, come on, you don't have to be so formal about it," Chie patted Yu on the back, "friends look after each other, after all."

"If there's any way I can be of help, I'd gladly do it," Yukiko smiled.

"Thanks," Yu returned the smile.

"Now that it's settled, I need to meet your folks!" Teddie surprised attacked Yu's back, clinging onto his shoulders playfully. This warranted the removal of said bear by Yosuke and Kanji, who dragged him to the side.

"Don't mind him. He's still learning manners…" Yosuke said almost as if he were a tape recorder.

"That's just how Teddie is," Kanji shrugs, "but you gotta admit, the bear has spirit."

"He never learns," Rise chuckles.

"Who knows," Yu pitches in, "that optimism and spirit might just save our behinds one day. It already did during the investigation."

"I guess that's true," Rise nods in agreement.

Upon reaching Junes, the gang sits down at the old investigation HQ, a medium sized metal lawn table with a bunch of metal chairs surrounding it. Each member takes their respective seat. Yu didn't say anything before, but he noticed that Naoto was remaining quiet. Something was on her mind and this wasn't the time or place to say it.

Yu nudged his collar, catching Naoto's attention. He set up this code with her shortly after they began dating in case they needed to get away and talk. Naoto suggested it after seeing it in an anime she saw when she was younger involving a guy with the power to make people do whatever he commanded. She insists that one of the voice actors sounds like Yosuke as well.

Naoto nodded in response. They decided nonverbally to wait until there was a good break in conversation to excuse themselves. Rise, on the other hand, saw through everything they were doing, but decided to play along anyways and said nothing.

"So did you hear the good news?" Rise asked Yu.

"Huh?"

"Kanji's has a boyfriend." Rise pointed at her bewildered classmate, who flustered in place.

"Yeah…I met him in Okina. You know…during Operation Babe Hunt 2…"

"Hey! You weren't supposed to tell him about that, you dolt!" Yosuke slapped Kanji in the back of the head.

"About what?" Kanji looked confused.

"About Operation…oh never mind," Yosuke looked down, defeated, "sorry we went without you."

"It's fine, it's fine," Yu shook that off, focusing intensely on Kanji, "I want to hear about the guy who stole Kanji away from me," Yu teased.

"Umm…" Kanji blushed briefly before shaking it off. Yu laughed.

"Don't worry about it, Kanji. We're friends for life. But you gotta tell me about him." Yu insisted.

"Well, he works for the café up in Okina and goes to school nearby. He's real smart too…s' been helping me with my classwork and everything. Here's a picture." Kanji holds up his phone's screensaver, showing him next to a tall, slim teen with thick auburn hair, bangs, and thick glasses.

"His name is Jiro Hasegawa. He's a second year at his high school and at the top of the grade. He's never met another guy who…you know…swings that way. I'm bi, so I felt kinda responsible for looking after him."

"That's really sweet, Kanji," Yukiko smiled.

"Yeah, I'm glad you found happiness," Chie agreed. Everybody else repeated in chorus. Yosuke looked away, but nodded in agreement.

"So how's it been between you two lately?" Yukiko asked Kanji. It seemed that Rise's plan worked and the attention was now on Kanji. Yu, not expecting this but keen as ever, muttered thanks to Rise and nodded at Naoto, and with Rise covering their excuse for later, the two of them slipped away.

[End music]

* * *

The two of them ducked underneath a tree, overlooking an untamed, untouched part of Japan's countryside, across the street from Junes. Other than the hustle and bustle of Junes, the only real bustle seen in the small town discounting the newly revived shopping district, there was only the mild sound of nature and silence.

"It's nice to see you again," Yu placed a hand on Naoto's shoulder.

"Likewise," Naoto smiled. Yu forced a smile; he was overjoyed to be back with Naoto after all this time, but he was also here on a mission and he needed to confide in her first.

"I can tell something's irking you," Naoto's face softened, "what's on your mind?" She somehow seemed more relaxed now, relieving Yu considering what he needed to get off his chest.

"I'm sorry but…I need to talk to you urgently," Yu's face turned grim, "and I needed to wait until I told the others."

"I understand. There's something I need to tell you as well, but I'll wait until later." Yu's hand returned to his side as Naoto made herself comfortable on the tree's roots, sitting down underneath the shade among the fallen red, orange, and yellow leaves. Yu decided to remain remained standing, leaning against the tree, looking up at the sky as he took a deep breath. Only Naoto knew about the existence of the Velvet Room…he needed someone cool-headed and analytical to talk this over with. Besides…he felt as if he could trust her more than anyone, probably because of how he felt.

[Search Core Orchestra - Ace Attorney]

"I was summoned to the Velvet room again by Margaret and the others. They said another catastrophe could be on its way." His gaze returned to the forest upon exhaling.

Naoto's eyes widened in shock, "Is it related to the murders from last year? Or perhaps Izanami has returned?"

"No...Not as far as the Velvet Room is aware. What happened last year is over and done with," Yu nodded his head as if finalizing his statement, "According to Margaret, however, there is a nexus of space that formed in the TV world similar to the Hollow Forest. I don't really understand myself, but we can't reach it from the TV at Junes."

"All I know is that if I don't act now, all of you may be in danger and I can't let that happen." Yu's voice was riddled with emotion. "I wish I could have come with happier news. I'm finally back…and I have to burden you guys again. I'm sorry…"

"Yu…" Naoto sighed, "None of this is your fault. You came and something unfortunate is about to happen. That can't be helped…" Yu sunk down next to Naoto on the ground, placing a hand on his cheek to prop it up.

"And at least you warned us instead of doing nothing. You have my sincerest gratitude." Naoto nodded her head to Yu, giving him a bittersweet smile.

"But with that said…I think I know what you might be referring to." Yu remained silent, but his face spoke a thousand words, three of them being astonishment, concern, and worry.

"I wanted to contact you about this earlier, but I'm not sure if I'm right myself." Naoto shook her head. "If what you say is true, then I have to consider a link between these events and what you just told me."

"Naoto…did something happen while I was away?"

"Not anything related to the prior case, if that's what you're thinking," Yu shifted his body to turn towards her. Naoto returned his gaze.

"It's actually related to a series of kidnappings I've been looking into for the police. These kidnappings…they've been happening for a while now. A few years before the Adachi case, in fact, but they've began to become more frequent. The problem is that none of the victims have been recovered and there's no link between any of the kidnappings beyond that. No suspects can be pinpointed either." Yu thought this over, the familiar circumstances sending chills down his spine.

"Do you think…there's a connection between these kidnappings and the TV world?" Yu inquired.

"I want to think so, and Chie in fact suggested that hypothesis before I even came up with it. She even thought as far as the place that they were being taken to is like the Hollow Forest." Yu was somewhat surprised. Not that Chie came up with the deduction; Yu always knew that she was smarter than she let on. Rather, he was surprised that Chie and Naoto were working together and that the connection between Igor's warning and the kidnapping cases were coming together so easily.

"The issue, however, is that there hasn't been anything on the Midnight Channel, but if what you are saying is true about this 'nexus' being like the Hollow Forest, then that could be definitive proof as to why the victims are not showing up on the TV."

"The greater concern I have, though, is the lack of solid connections between the victims. The only thing we know is that it's mostly high school and middle school students that have been disappearing, but even some elementary students and a few adults have gone missing as well under the same circumstances." Naoto's foot rocked in place, her arms wrapped around her knee as her gaze wandered from Yu to the forest and back to him.

"The lack of connections between the victims makes the TV possibility more likely, but there has to still be a mode of apparatus for the killer if they are pushing people inside the TV," Naoto continued.

"But if where they are being taken is like the Hollow Forest, then being pushed inside the TV wouldn't cut it unless it was the same TV, like the one Margaret prepared for us that one time," Yu shook his head.

"Now I'm even more confused. Perhaps there will be answers tomorrow."

[End music]

"What did you say?" Naoto looked at him funny.

"Oh…OH!" Yu nearly forgot, "I was instructed by Igor to go to the place where I was granted power on a rainy day. He said the path forward would be revealed to me there. Perhaps that's where I'll find answers."

"I see," Naoto lifted the brim of her hat, gazing at him as she removed her signature cap, placing it on her lap, "then we will have to wait until then. There's one more thing I need to tell you, though, but first a question."

[Namine's Theme – Kingdom Hearts]

"Yes?"

"Do you believe in the occult?" She asked shyly.

"Huh? That's strange coming from you, a woman of science."

"Yes, well, I'm not sure anymore…with the events that occurred last year and all."

"Fair enough."

"Well, anyways, there's one rumor that has been going around with the kidnappings. They call it the Sachiko Ever After charm."

"Oh. I heard about that in the city. It was pretty popular when I came back. I didn't do it or anything, but supposedly it strengthens the bonds between friends, right?"

"Yes…but it also is linked with another rumor. It is believed that anyone who performs the charm ends up disappearing, never to be seen again, as if it is cursed."

Yu's eyebrow furrowed in skepticism, "I'm not sure if that has any relevance to the case, though."

"Trust me, I want to dismiss the notion more than anyone," Naoto's hands jittered, "but I cannot ignore that there might be a connection. I can't have a repeat of the ransom letter, of me overlooking something vital."

Yu placed an arm around Naoto, making her blush, "That wasn't your fault. None of us knew what to do. If it was anyone's fault, though, it would be mine. I should've convinced Dojima not to leave Nanako alone, to take her with us when he brought me into the station and to keep a good eye on her." Yu grimaced at the memory, turning his head away from Naoto in shame. He still regretted what happened back then, his carelessness for not keeping a better eye on Nanako, and perhaps that's why Naoto was considering this charm as a lead, to prevent anything like that from happening again.

"Yu…" Naoto scooted closer to him, leaning into his shoulder.

"If you think we need to look into the charm, then I think it's worth exploring. If it is as dangerous as you said, though, then we need to be prepared," Yu nodded in resolution.

"…thanks," Naoto looked up at Yu in relief, who returned her gaze. Their faces were merely inches away from each other and Yu looked down at her bitter-sweetly. He'd do anything he could to keep her and his friends safe. He just got them back…he wasn't going to lose them to something even worse than moving.

Without realizing it, he dipped his head into hers and their lips met, sharing a light, delicate kiss, conveying all the concern, worry, and love he felt for her. She returned his kiss with just as much delicate passion, smiling before her forehead rocked into his, their lips parting. Their foreheads touched for a moment, their eyes closed before she leaned back, sitting against the tree, once more in his arms. The sun was beginning its descent in the distance and the two of them stared at the natural beauty of the field and forest stretching beyond them.

"Oh, so that's where they are!" Chie's voice loomed above them, jolting the two of them out of their seats.

[Your Affection]

"Sensei!" Teddie stood in front of them placing his hands on his hips as he bent down, "I didn't know you were so good at 'scoring with the ladies'. No fair! You have to teach me!"

"Teddie, Chie, stop bothering them," Yosuke dragged off Teddie, sighing, "I'm sorry, partner. I tried to stop them…although it still hurts that you're in a relationship and I can't even find a girl yet…" he whined that last part underneath his breath just audibly enough.

"If only Operation Babe Hunt 2 worked…"

"Whoa!" Kanji walked up to them, blushing in the meanwhile. Yukiko and a defeated Rise were behind him.

"Well, at least I'm not confused about my feelings anymore thank to Jiro," Kanji sighed in relief, "and there's nobody else I'd trust but you, Senpai." Yu awkwardly nodded his head, thankful for his consent. Now it was Rise's turn.

"I tried, but they wouldn't listen. I'm sorry guys," Rise apologized to Yu and Naoto.

"It couldn't be helped," Yu shrugged, "but thanks anyways."

"Of course," Rise smiled. Yu and Naoto got up slowly, Yu helping Naoto up.

"We should head back now," Yukiko suggested, "we've all had a long day and the cultural festival is coming up."

"Oh yeah. With Yu coming back, I nearly forgot," Yosuke responded.

"I'm exited!" Chie grinned wickedly. "With Yu back and all the cafes selling freshly grilled meat, there's no way we can't enjoy ourselves!"

"I think that's just you, Chie," Yosuke flatly stated.

"Well, I'm up for some meat," Yu and Chie high-fived each other.

"Meat buddies forever?"

"Meat buddies forever." Yu smiled just as wickedly.

'Meat buddies forever!" Teddie jumps in. Yu gives Teddie a thumb up for his enthusiasm. Teddie then looks expectantly at Kanji.

"Ah…yeah! Meat buddies forever!" Kanji cheers.

"Hehehe…" Yukiko began chuckling to herself, which only meant one thing: the famous Amagi laughing fit.

"Hahahaha...!" Yukiko laughed even louder, bending over in recoil, making everyone else sigh and smile…well except Yu, who was chuckling just as much with her.

"He's just as bad as Yukiko sometimes," Chie commented, chuckling herself.

"Yeah," Naoto smiled, "he really has a lot of different faces and quirks to him. He's a bit of a mystery…a wild card…and that's why I like him."

"A true detective to the end, huh?" Kanji crossed his arms loosely.

"Wow, that was very feminine of you, Naoto. Coming along, huh?" Rise asked.

"No. That's just the honest truth," Naoto placed her cap back on her head and smiled. Soon after, the eight of them returned home.

* * *

[No music]

"So you got a room at the Amagi inn?" Dojima was talking to Yu's parents over the phone while Yu and Nanako were eating specially bought sushi for Yu's return. Soon enough, a Junes commercial came on and the nostalgic sound of Nanako singling along filled the vibrant house. Yu took a sip of water out of the special mug given to him by Dojima sometime ago.

"Uh huh…oh, the police? I see…Well, I'll get you both applications and try to recommend you to my boss. Do you have any recommendations from your old jobs?...I see….I'm sure they'd welcome the experience. We're low on staff as it is."

Yu looked blankly in into the TV, thinking about what Naoto said.

 _Is there really a connection?_

He would have to tell his friends tomorrow and get prepared.

But even more so, he had an irking feeling that he needed to find Marie before the rain comes to Inaba.

* * *

 **I hoped you enjoyed this extra-long chapter.**


	4. Rainy Days

**Well, here it is, and wow did this chapter make me have to think about how to transition the story. I spent probably half a month trying to figure out exactly what I wanted to do with writer's block, but in the end, I had a writer's epiphany and managed to crank out something I was happy with. Hopefully, it should be relatively smooth sailing from here.**

 **Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

Yu set out early the next morning, rising before even the sun had a chance to peak over the horizon. He ate a quick breakfast he threw together – an egg and toast with jam – and left a quick note saying he needed to drop by a friend's house before he made it to school. Softly shutting the door to the Dojima residence, he made his way to the central shopping district.

Yu knew she might not be there, but at the very least he could try to get in contact with her indirectly if he headed to the Velvet Room. Pacing himself down the maze of roads, the sun was finally making an appearance over the mountains as if beckoning him onward. Yu turned the corner, and crossing the street, he could see the bus station that sat outside the south side of the shopping district. The streets were vacant this early in the morning and Yu had plenty of time before he needed to be at school, so he slowed down his pace, taking in the crisp air as he caught his breath. A few dying leaves crossed his path, reminding him that the world was ready to enter its annual hibernation.

The mysterious blue door awaited him next to Daidara Metalworks as always, which Yu walked up to slowly. Peering around the empty streets, he entered the mysterious door where a light overtook his vision.

* * *

[Reasoning - Persona 4]

"I see," Yosuke contemplated. Immediately after school, Yu and Naoto gathered the original Investigation team at their headquarters once again, explaining the results of their combined findings. The only thing that wasn't mentioned was the Sachiko Ever After charm: Yu and Naoto agreed that until they gathered a little more information about the charm and until Yu went back to "the place where he was first granted power" that convincing the whole team of the charm's possible relevance to the case wouldn't be convincing enough. The only other person who knew about the charm's connection to the case was Chie and Yu and Naoto got her to agree to these terms yesterday after everyone left.

"I thought what Adachi-san did was horrible, but whoever's behind this…" Rise cringed, "how are we supposed to track somebody who's been doing this for years? They don't even show up on the Midnight Channel!"

"I don't know if it's that simple," Yukiko pondered, "there has to be some kind of connection we haven't thought of yet. And we don't know for sure if they have any relation to the TVs."

"At least in the original case, the bodies always showed up the same way," Yosuke pointed out, "but that's not happening this time. Hell, the bodies aren't even _showing up_."

"We can't forget Chie's theory, though," Yu pressed, "the killer might be sending them somewhere like the Hollow Forest, in which case, the bodies wouldn't show up at all."

"This is true," Naoto supported, "Think about it. Marie-san sealed herself in the Hollow Forest in order to eradicate her existence. If her body were to show up the next day in our world, you could hardly call that effective."

"There was also the fact that Naoto couldn't find much information about the victims," Yu added, "many of the people linked to the victims for one reason or another, even family members and friends, cannot recall anything about the victim. It's as if their memories about them were wiped."

"The only proof of their existence is in any documentation created by someone else other than the victim," Naoto included.

"Meaning the killer managed to wipe people's memories?" Kanji looked confused.

"Or where they are being pushed into might be behind it," Chie concluded.

"Exactly," Naoto fixed her hat.

"But why don't they appear on the TV, then?" Yukiko asked.

"Now that I think about it…" Teddie pondered, "When you were sick Yu, I don't think Marie-chan appeared on the Midnight Channel."

"But it wasn't raining in January," Kanji pointed out, "so how could we even watch the Midnight channel?"

"Doesn't snow count as rain? Just frozen rain?" Yosuke asked.

"I don't…know?" Kanji furrowed his eyebrows.

"Either way, she didn't appear on the Midnight Channel, right?" Rise noted, placing a hand on her head as if reacting to a headache, "this is really confusing…"

"But she did appear in my dreams while I was sleeping," Yu spoke up, "Margaret contacted me not too long afterwards, telling me Marie was gone."

"But didn't Marie go to the Hollow Forest by choice?" Rise pointed out.

"That's true," Yu conceded.

"And I doubt all those people went into the Midnight channel by choice," Kanji added, "that wouldn't make any sense." And then it hit him like a raindrop rippling a lake.

"Wait!" Yu thought out loud, "maybe they did go by choice."

"Huh?" Rise looked at him, confused.

"Oh, well…" Yu connected the pieces, but he couldn't tell anyone yet. If the victims were really going to the nexus using the Sachiko Ever After charm, then they were going by choice. In other words, that would explain why they didn't appear on the Midnight Channel.

Naoto seemed to understand this as well and nodded to Yu. Chie looked to Yu, and Yu could assume she was realizing the exact same thing. The three of them chose to stay quiet on the matter…for now.

"Well, regardless, I don't think we're going to get anywhere at this rate," Yosuke spoke up, "maybe we should sit on this for a day and think about it on our own."

"I agree with Yosuke. For now, we should prepare for the Cultural Festival. It's not like we have to save anyone this time." Chie raised a valid point. While Yu was confident in his theory, he still wanted to think it over and discuss it over with Naoto and Chie on the phone when he made it back home. Besides, he needed whatever information he could get tomorrow.

All the pieces were about to fall into place. He'd only need one more important piece before it was time to confront the queen.

* * *

[Heartbreak - Persona 4]

The drive to Okina city went by quicker than he remembered, maybe because he was used to the slow drag of city traffic. The wind, the speed, it felt liberating as he sped down the road, and the beautiful landscape around him – the rolling fields with the occasional tree or two blanketed by the slowly overcasting sky – certainly was an easier sight for eyes than the concrete jungle. He revved his engine, pushing his luck with the speed limit despite being on a scooter, but he had a good reason for rushing as fast as he could go.

Pulling up the city, he slowed down to cleanly park in the scooter lot, turning the engine off with a swift hand. He kept his pace brisk, not running but not quite walking either, towards an office building past the café, weaving through locals and tourists casually traversing the walkway with ease. Crowds were never an issue for a city boy like him, after all. Soon enough, he made it to the sliding glass entrance.

Entering the building to the local news station, he saw all kinds of people from executives walking as briskly as Yu to lax cameramen hauling their equipment in and out the service door; even the secretaries at the front desk moved frantically from one phone to another, redirecting as many calls as they could to the right department.

"Hey, move it, kid," an executive rushed past him curtly. Yu decided to move out of the way, making his way to the front desk. Fortunately, one of the secretaries got off the phone.

"Can I help you?" he didn't look up from his computer.

"I have an appointment under Narukami," he managed to call ahead of time, knowing that walking in wasn't going to let him see her. The secretary checked the computer, nodding.

"Oh yes, here you are. She has some time to see you. A friend, huh?" his monotone voice gave away any façade of interest, but Yu dismissed that as him being busy.

"Yeah," Yu received a guest pass from the secretary.

"Take the elevator to the second floor, go down the hallway and make a right. It's the last door to the left." Before Yu could thank him, the phone rang and the secretary was back to work. Yu muttered thanks anyways and made his way to the elevator.

* * *

[Like a dream come true - Persona 4]

"It's about time you came to see me," Marie crossed her legs, refusing to look at him directly, "and to think you'd keep your promise."

"I was pretty far away, Marie," Yu took a spare chair and sat down. Marie was preparing her own make-up for the weather report later tonight. Yu was surprised that someone else wasn't helping her, but it goes to show the extent of a local branch office, even if the station was available in the city.

"And besides, I sent you plenty of letters," Yu added.

"Well, fine…I'll let you get away with it this time…stupidjerkwaddummyface," Marie muttered, "either way, I'm glad you're back."

"Ok, about that," Yu got up from his chair irritably, moving over her with a menacing presence, " _how_ did you know that my parents were going to get laid off?"

"I, well…" Marie shuffled away from Yu in her chair, "Look you're getting into my personal space. Is everyone on the outside like this?"

"Just tell me," Yu wasn't going to let her evade the question and placed his body between her and the door to ensure that.

"I…might have gotten some advance knowledge…"

"I'm not falling for that, Miss Divine Intervention," Yu crossed his arms, "I know you did that to get me back here."

"Look, I might be able to affect the weather and other things, but I can't change people's fates." Marie continued to place foundation on her cheeks, writing it off. "Besides, you were happier here anyways."

"That's not the point," Yu, shaking his head, turned around and sat back down in his seat.

"I guess that doesn't matter right now…" Yu sat backwards in his seat, folding his arms on the back rest, "I need you for something. It's important."

"Huh?" Marie finally turned his way, putting her make-up down.

"Igor told me I have to return to the place 'where I first gained power' tomorrow, remember," Yu explained, "I have a theory I can't quite prove, but if I'm correct, I'll need you there."

"The Nose told you that?"

"You were there," Yu frowned.

"Alright, fine. But why do you need me?" she asked.

"Simple. I need leverage," Yu pointed out, "I can't use Personas in the real world, after all."

"Oh," Marie shrugged, "is that all?"

"Well, I do have an irking feeling that this will involve you, regardless," Yu admitted, "but that didn't seem like a good enough reason alone."

"Makes sense to me," Marie shrugged, "whatever the Nose is getting at involves people connected to you. That includes me too," Marie asserted.

"I have no idea what'll happen tomorrow, but I'll be there," Marie concluded.

"Thanks," Yu gave her a smile.

"Well, don't get used to it," Marie shifted back to the mirror, but a faint smile could be seen on her face. A phone call came in soon after, which Marie picked up. It came to no surprise to Yu when Marie told him she was needed on site in a few minutes. Yu decided to head out, getting up from the spare chair and turning slowly to the doors.

"Hey!" Marie spoke up. Yu turned around. Marie held a VIP pass in her hand.

"Come around more often, alright?" he accepted the pass, placing the lanyard around his neck, an amused smile on his face.

"Alright. And sorry for accusing you earlier."

"Eh, I knew you'd be back at some point or another. We have more memories to make. And I'm not letting you off that easy." Marie smiled wryly as he left the room. Her first statement made him a bit suspicious, but he needed to make it back home before it got dark, so he let it go for now. Walking down the hallway, he sympathized with the hustling crew members buzzing about, hastily preparing for the news much like he was running all these errands. Popping in and out of the elevator, he left his guest pass at the front desk with a wave to the secretary, and with his VIP pass hanging proudly from his neck, he exited the office. Dark clouds were moving in from the west, obscuring the setting sun as the inevitable storm making its way towards Inaba, a sight he would have plenty of time to ponder about as he rode home.

* * *

[Rain sound effect]

Yu Narukami walked the nearly empty streets of the central shopping district, a hand in his pocket while the other twirled the handle of his umbrella around and around effortlessly. Marie was with him, drops of water falling off her blue hat, not really caring if she got wet. The rain seemed to have picked up with the wind, splattering against the buildings surrounding Yu loudly as if the sky was assaulting the earth. The gas station was just as deserted, and if there were any witnesses to Yu and Marie, they would have seemed suspicious…perhaps there's some truth in that.

In the distance, Yu could see a figure in the distance, walking the Inaba streets with intent that wasn't normal to any mere resident. They held themselves with a sort of pride that distinguished them: their shoulders were back, their posture perfect, facing head on and walking without a moment of hesitation…although to Yu, this stride seemed a little forced. A façade, perhaps? In truth, this figure felt no different to Yu than anybody else, no intimidating aura or sign that they belong to _that_ world, and Yu began having doubts. Whoever was to meet them today was just as mortal as the rest of them and Yu rethought his need for Marie's presence.

 _It's better to be safe_

The figure finally reached them, her conservative grey outfit soaked in the rain, although she seemed as indifferent as Marie on the state of her clothes. Yu felt no more reason to doubt himself; he was indeed right. But what did that mean for him? What about what Margaret said?

 _If you think you are here because of the fog that once threatened your world, be at ease_

She looked directly at Yu.

"Ms. Fushigi…no…Izanami," Yu spoke firmly as his pocketed hand pulled out his glasses, which revealed her true human form. Marie didn't look too surprised.

"Why are you here? Do you intend on bringing the fog back?"

Izanami remained silent before sighing.

"No, I do not intend on bringing the fog back. I see no point in doing that."

"Then why?" Yu asked, "I thought you reunited with Marie."

"That is not entirely true," Izanami responded, shaking her head, "Kusumi-no-Okami…Marie…absorbed a large part of my essence, but there is the matter of this body. No, what I am is merely a husk of my former self, left to roam the Earth as a Goddess of Death until death takes this mortal body."

"Why was I told to come here?" Yu asked.

"Because I have a request, for the man who dethroned a goddess," Izanami's voice remained steady, although Yu could tell her tone was raw and begrudging.

"And why should I trust you," Yu asked scornfully.

"I said I would not get wrapped up in the affairs of this world, but there is a matter in the other world that I must attend to. It is related to the people who have gone missing and the phenomenon known as the 'Sachiko Ever After' charm. Besides, I am the one who granted you power, am I not?" she looked at him expectantly.

"…keep talking," Yu's eyes narrowed. He nodded to Marie, telling her to keep her guard up.

"As you know, I am…was…both a goddess of creation and death until you and Izanagi-no-Okami defeated me and the power of creation was stripped from me by her," Izanami pointed at Marie scornfully, "and so I am one of the overseers of the cycle of death in this world."

"And you're point?" Marie asked flatly. Izanagi glared at her.

"So as an overseer, I know that someone in the other world has been interfering with the cycle of life and death by trapping souls in a nexus of space. A powerful curse has been pulling more and more souls into this space, but I no longer possess the strength or ability to intervene directly."

"Seeker of Truth, I ask you to defeat the malevolent spirit that dares defy the cycle of life and death so that I may deliver divine justice upon them with what last providence I am responsible for. If you wish to lead the human race, mortal, then it is as much your responsibility to act in the interest of humanity and end this curse."

Yu didn't speak, but rather turned to Marie; Marie seemed to understand what he was getting at, but shook her head.

"I'm sorry. Like I said, I cannot change people's fates. I'll do anything else I must to help you, but give up on an easy way out," she spoke frankly.

Yu shook his head in disbelief. So the Sachiko charm was at the center of the disappearances. This was something he would need time to think over, especially if a former enemy was asking for his help, but at the same time, he couldn't just ignore this information. Did Izanami have a motive or was she merely fulfilling her role? What could she honestly gain if he took up the endeavor? The possibility of Izanami trying to get rid of Yu and his friends was certainly there, but that wouldn't accomplish anything considering Marie was still here. She'd be no better off than she was before, unless she desired revenge.

"I will give fair warning. You will be able to escape the nexus, but only once the source of the curse has been defeated." Izanami continued. "I will go with you to ensure that the one behind it all is taken care of properly and that humanity's best interest is taken into account." Izanami stepped forward, her eyes intent on remaining on Yu despite her next words.

"I understand that you do not trust me, so my life will be the leverage you have against me. I'm powerless against you and if the nexus kills you, my fate is sealed as well. "

"But know this, Seeker of Truth. If I am to fall in that world, then the curse can never be completely lifted."

Yu stood there, processing the woman's words. He knew his answer.

"I must speak to my friends first," he resolved, "If they agree to these terms and find your words to be true, then I will comply. However, I am not going to risk their lives on your word."

"…I understand." Izanami nodded slowly. She turned to walk back the way she came from.

"Stop," Yu raised a hand, "I'm not done." Izanami turned her head, her face revealing a look of genuine curiosity.

"Why did you pose as our teacher?" Yu asked suspiciously.

"…while I do not doubt you, Seeker of Truth, I needed to know for sure if your 'friends' would be worthy of this task. I live among you now and there are many things I can pass on, if the world intends to pursue truth." She turned her back to Yu and began walking off. Marie looked over at Yu.

"Should I stop her?"

"…No. We're done here for now," Yu stared at the receding figure of Izanami, the rain lightening in intensity as she walked away.

"Did you sense anything from her?" Yu asked.

"No. She is telling the truth when she said her powers were lost."

"I see," Yu nodded his head, "I trust your word, but keep an eye on her, if you can."

"Cautious as always," Marie sighed, the intensity of the atmosphere dissipating, "I understand."

The two of them didn't turn their backs until Izanami disappeared into the misty horizon. Then, without a word, Marie returned to the Velvet room and Yu walked away in the opposite direction, returning to the Dojima residence, a pit resting heavily in his stomach.

* * *

[Reasoning - Persona 4]

"Ok, so let me summarize this," Yosuke stood up, his hands outstretched as if trying to push away the overwhelming words just spoken. The entire investigation team, including Marie, was sitting down at their headquarters the next day after a long day spent. Today was the first day of their cultural festival and the sun was just about to set.

"Margaret told you to go to go to the gas station, you met up with Ms. Fushigi…I mean Izanami out there with Marie, she told you that the Sachiko charm we were about to do was sucking people into a special place in the TV, and _asked_ you to go into the TV with her to get rid of a curse? Not to mention you, Naoto, and _Chie_ theorized most of this out beforehand?"

"Hey!" Chie could hear the emphasis of her name, "I actually came up with the idea for once. Yu and Naoto just….worked it out a little more."

"That about sums it up." Yu crossed his arms. "I needed to figure out what was going on before I came out with such a crazy story."

"It's crazy no matter how you look at it," Yosuke sighed, "but I'm honestly not surprised by much anymore."

"Still, it's it really that smart to trust that Izanami chick?" Kanji asked, "I mean she could be trying to get rid of us."

"But why would she put her life at risk just for that?" Rise pointed out, "there are other ways she could have gotten us to go back into the TV without risking her life."

"Point to be made, we cannot ignore any victims that might be dying in there," Naoto concluded, "I wish to air on the side of caution, but if we don't act, then we are no worse than Adachi." She shook her head, adjusted her hat, and took a sip of her soda.

"I think so too," Marie spoke up, "If Margaret and the Nose think this is tied to something bigger, then they're probably right. Besides, I think I can keep Izanami under control."

"I agree," Teddie placed a hand over his chest, "The TV world has been peaceful ever since we won back in April, but there are still some _beary_ suspicious areas. I'd sleep a lot better knowing they were gone." Everyone sighed. It was in that moment that Yu realized that Yukiko was being strangely quiet. Yu's always known Yukiko to be quite observant in moments like these, so the heavy quietness hanging over her up didn't seem right.

"Yukiko, what's on your mind?" Chie asked, noticing Yukiko's strange behavior as well. Yukiko was fidgeting in her chair on her phone. She glanced up at Chie, then down at her phone, then up at Yu, darting her eyes between her friends and her phone. Her fingers were constantly pressing the same button.

"Well…" Yukiko's expression emanated worry and misery. She put down the phone, a tear falling from her eye.

"I'm sorry…I nearly got all of you killed," her voice shook and Chie was at her side, comforting her. The rest of the group looked at her with concern.

"Look, you didn't know, right," Chie asked in a hushed tone and Yukiko nodded. Her weeping only grew louder, though.

"I shouldn't have brought you all into my weird obsession," Yukiko shook her head, "but I never knew the occult was real. I just like scary stories."

"Don't worry about it, ok?" Kanji reassured her, "besides, if anything did happen, we could just beat 'em up with our Personas together, right? We'd stick together." Yukiko looked up at him, wiping her tears.

"Don't worry about it, Yukiko," Rise smiled in reassurance, "most of those charms are just old urban legends anyways. How would anybody know any different?"

"Yeah. That explains why so many people bought into it," Kanji pointed out, "they were just trying to have a little bit of fun."

"And you wanted to do it because you cared about us." Yu added. "You were trying to remind everyone that we didn't just solve the case together, but that we are friends too."

"Thank you, everyone…but it's not that simple." Yukiko picked up her cell phone again, skimming over its contents once more as she shook her head gloomily "I received the Sachiko charm from a friend of mine. I met her on an occult website a while back and we spent some time together in Okina City. She was planning to do the Sachiko charm today with her friends since one of them was transferring to a different school tomorrow…to our school in fact."

"Her name is Ayumi Shinozaki…I tried everything, but she isn't picking up."

* * *

 **You know what to do. Stay Golden, everyone!**


	5. Sachiko, we beg of you

**And so it begins...**

* * *

[The Genesis – Persona 4]

Yu gulped as the Investigation Team entered their third year classroom, the classroom sliding open with a rumble. The last of the light had faded from their world, the flickering of the classroom's old fluorescent light hardly serving as a comforting presence as they slowly gathered into the room. Yu and company were fully equipped with weapons and armor from Daidara as well as trinkets and wards from the TV world, carefully concealed underneath their school uniforms (and within one Teddie costume, of course). Yu clutched his katana close to his body, gritting his teeth as he was met with Izanami's analyzing eyes.

"Hmm…" She walks over to him. In her hand is a paper proxy. "I almost thought you wouldn't come."

"We decided that we couldn't turn our backs on this." Yu states simply. The less Izanami knew about the true situation, the more leverage he would have in the long run. She was a crafty woman, the woman who chose him alongside a demon and a false prophet to receive power, to represent hope. If he didn't play his cards right, then his team would potentially be in more danger than they were ready to face. He attempted to keep his cool, but Yu could see one of her eyebrows flicker for a second before she preceded to hand the proxy to him.

"So be it. I'll be participating as well, as promised. When you're ready." She nodded and stepped aside, letting the Investigation Team spread out into a circle.

"This is the last chance to bail. I am not forcing any of you to commit to doing this. If necessary, I will go in with Izanami alone."

"Dude, we're going in with you. You don't need to be so dramatic about it." Yosuke gave him a thumb up, albeit weary.

"I can't let you do that anyways." Yukiko spoke up, shaking her head. "This is my fault, so I have to come."

"It's not your fault, Yukiko." Chie placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We're going to save your friend, there's no doubt about it!"

"Yeah, and besides, we have one of our own in there." Kanji noted. "You said one of the girls who wound up in there was going to move to our school, right? We need to welcome her with a smile."

"I'll do everything I can to make sure that happens!" Teddie responds to Kanji enthusiastically.

"Yeah. We cannot afford to wimp out now!" Rise agreed. "Once a team, always a team."

"Of course I'm going with you." Marie nodded. "And you better not leave me behind _again_."

"So it's decided." Naoto concluded, looking towards Yu. "I, for one, am not letting you out of my sight again…" Naoto paused, blushing when she realized just what she said, but continued anyways. "We'll stand by you no matter what, until we succeed at getting them out safely. I'd have it no other way."

"Everyone…" Yu was at a loss for words and a sense of relief flooded him. "Thank you for everything." He was tired of putting up the brave front, and thanks to his friends, he no longer needed to. He turned to Izanami.

"We're ready."

[End Music]

The ten of them all gathered in a circle, each of them holding onto the proxy doll, crushing it between their thumbs and index fingers. None of them needed to be told what to do, and so the room remained silent for a period of time. All eyes were on Yu, expecting him to begin the ritual, but a lump of phlegm was caught in his throat. He coughed into his sleeve and began to breathe deeply, attempting to slow his heartbeat, but to no avail. Every part of his body was screaming for him not to utter those words, the voices of his Personas wailing in his head to turn back. Almost as if on cue, a presence seemed to make its way into the room, as if someone was watching them from the dark former of the room. The emanating malice in the air was primal…terrifying…maleficent in nature. Gulping, Yu's sweaty hands couldn't squeeze the proxy any tighter. As if the air had to carry the weak words out of his mouth, he spoke.

"Sachiko…we beg of you."

Then, one by one, they spoke, going clockwise around the circle.

"Sachiko we beg of you."

"Sachiko…we beg…of you."

"Sachiko, we beg of you!"

"Sachiko, we beg of you."

"Sachiko, we beg of you…"

"Sachiko, we beg…of you…"

"Sachiko we beg of you."

"Sachiko! We beg of you."

"Sachiko, we beg of you." The last words were spoken by Izanami herself.

Then, as if tearing at the fabric of their souls, the ten of them pulled apart the proxy doll. In the struggle, Kanji and Teddie fell down, taking Yosuke with them. Everyone else managed to stay on their feet, although Chie soon gravitated towards Yukiko in fear and anticipation. Yu kept Naoto nearby his side, waiting for the worst with Rise and Marie huddling nearby. The room was filled with silence. Yu looked down at the paper in his hands and realized that there were not one, but two pieces in his hand.

"Does everyone have a piece?" Yu asked. Everyone silently nodded in response.

"Is anything going to happen soon?" Teddie shuddered in fear. As soon as Teddie spoke those words, Yu's eyes went deadpan, staring at the door.

[Fear – Corpse Party OST]

"What are you guys doing here?" a familiar voice echoed across the room.

"Nanako!" The building began to shake violently, the air crackling with dark energy. A blob similar to that of the Shadows began appearing in the floor as the foundation of the building was rocked, the windows shattering simultaneously. By instinct, and being the closest to the door, Yu grabbed onto Nanako, shielding her from any falling debris. The earthquake worked fast, the floor giving away fast beneath them. It took Yosuke, Kanji, and Teddie first, their screams echoing out of the deep, endless abyss. Chie and Yukiko were next and Yu knew that waiting any longer would be catastrophic. Pushing Nanako out of the classroom harshly, she landed in the hallway as Rise, Marie, Naoto and finally Yu fell in. The last thing Yu saw was Izanami careening down above him as he tensed, preparing for the impact below him, hoping that Nanako was alright back in their world. It barely took a second for him to black out.

* * *

[In the Future – Pokémon Mystery Dungeon 2]

Yu struggles to open his eyes, as if a force were pushing his eyeballs further and further into his skull. Muscles aching, he places a hand on the floor only to be met with a small, but sharp pain. Jerking back, he manages to get into a sitting position as he tries to examine his hand with weary eyes. A few rather small splinters managed to lodge themselves into his palm and his cursed his luck. Looking around him, he realized that most of the floorboards were old and rotting; any of them could produce some painful splinters, so as he got up, he avoided using his hands for leverage, transferring the struggle to get on his feet to his unfortunate legs and waist. He shook his head when he got up, his vision slowly clearing.

The first thing he noticed was the flickering light above him, which was strangely not that different from the light in their classroom. As his eyes traced downward from the light, he looked at the surroundings: tears and gaps in the floor fell down for who knows how many stories; small wooden desks were rotting on their feet; shelves were slanted or nearly collapsed, albeit a few managed to support one or two small picture books. Yu turned around. On the chalkboard, a string of disturbing words were thickly written with chalk:

 _ **You will never find Salvation**_

Yu could hear a familiar female groan coming from a corner of the room. Yu's eyes darted over to the small presence and rushed over. Below him, Naoto struggled with gaining her bearings in a similar manner. Yu grabbed her hand before she could place it on the splintered floor, however, guiding her up as she shook her head.

"Yu?" Her tone was a bit higher than usual, as if much of her composure has melted away since…since however they got _here_.

"So…it seems we made it," Naoto spoke grimly, "Are we the only ones?"

"Ugh…" another groan could be heard on the other side of the room. Yu began walking over to the source, but Naoto grabbed his hand.

"Wait!" She stopped him. Yu looked back at her, stunned.

"You nearly fell," she pointed to the abyss splitting the classroom. It seems that they had no choice but to wait for the figure to get up. In a matter of seconds, however, Rise used a desk to help herself up, as dazed as they were.

"Rise!" Yu shouted over at her, "Are you ok?"

"Yu?" Rise looked over, finally registering them. She took a step towards them.

"Don't come over!" Naoto warned her, "Or you'll fall in!"

Rise looked down and her eyes nearly popped out. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks," Rise chuckled nervously to herself, "But where are we?"

Yu already had an idea of where he likely was, but what concerned him was the lack of people in this room. Did that mean they ended up in different parts of the TV dungeon? He wasn't sure, but a flyer on the wall caught his attention. He walked over to the piece of loose paper tacked onto the wall next to the disturbing chalkboard and read its contents.

"'Breaking News: Serial Kidnapping Ends In Murder'

The good name of Heavenly Host Elementary School has been stained in blood today as horrific details on the recent wave of disappearances are revealed. Over the past month, numerous children have gone missing within the town, and authorities quickly turned to kidnapping as the most likely explanation. Now investigators have located the whereabouts of these children, and their findings are far worse than anyone could've anticipated. The bodies of the absconded youths were discovered within the Heavenly Host Elementary School building on September 18th, 1973 at around 7:00 PM. Authorities further revealed that a male instructor from the school was found with them, alive but near-catatonic, holding a pair of bloodied scissors. Each of the corpses appeared to have had its tongue sev_ed and remove_ique mutilations far too grot_g to describe."

The rest of the article no longer existed, torn off from the bottom. Yu took a step back, his heart leaping, cringing at the newspaper's contents. By then, Naoto had read the article herself, sighing deeply as she looks away from the even more disturbing article. Yu needed to get his mind off the article and looked over to Rise.

"Rise, can you get out from over there?" he asked.

"There's a door that leads into a hallway over here," Rise responded, "I'll be over there in a jiff…heheh." If Yu was any closer to her, he probably could have seen her jitter.

"Don't," Yu told her, "we don't know what kind of Shadows might be lurking out there. Since you can't fight with your Persona, I should come over there."

"Oh…ok then…" Rise really was beginning to withdraw. Yu honestly didn't blame her for being scared; out of all the dungeons he has ever entered, this was the most disturbing. It almost felt as if they weren't in the TV world, but rather in a horrible nightmare. What kind of person could produce such a world with their inner thoughts? Yu didn't have time to think as he pushed open the door into the halls with Naoto trailing alongside him. The hall itself was lifeless, long, and dreary and Yu was feeling more and more disturbed by the lack of Shadows, as if they were hiding to wait and pounce on them. He sharply looked left and right, pulling out his Katana from the sheath and tying the sheath onto his belt as he advanced down the hall. Naoto followed with her pistol, protecting his back as he walked down the creaking halls. The floors felt damp, possibly with something other than water, and the lights above them flickered inconsistently. Yu thought about what he'd do if the lights went out altogether and figured that such pessimistic thinking would be unwise right now. He soon reached the door to the other side of the classroom where he saw Rise peaking out.

"Senpai?" She whispered, "Did you find out anything?"

"Can we talk when we get back inside the classroom?" Naoto suggested, a bit on edge, "I'd rather not spend my time out in the hallway, exposed."

"I agree," Yu nodded, taking a deep breath. Rise sandwiched herself between Yu and Naoto as they retreated back to the other side of the classroom, wasting no time in doing so. Once inside, Rise looked at the article on the wall while Yu and Naoto talked around the teacher's podium.

"So that confirms it," Yu spoke.

"Probably…we don't have any other evidence pointing to otherwise, after all…" Naoto nearly leaned against the podium, but thought otherwise. They didn't speak.

"What should we do?" Naoto asked.

"We need to find the others," Yu immediately said, "I'm concerned."

"Me too…but there's something that concerns me even more. We didn't enter this place though any entrance." Yu realized what Naoto was implying…and remained silent. Even if they did manage to reunite with everyone, finding a way out would be even more difficult. Yu, naturally, packed a few Goho-Ms just in case they needed to go back to the entrance and recuperate, but without a known entrance, it was difficult to say whether or not it would even work or if they would ever be out of danger.

 _But be warned. This space is unlike anything you encountered thus far and is much more dangerous._ I cannot guarantee a portal out of this space nor can I offer my assistance once you have entered this space…

Igor's words were no joke…and Yu had no way to gauge how dangerous this space truly was.

"And there's one more thing…" Yu spoke up, not wanting to admit a fear that had been plaguing the back of his mind, "Nanako…"

Naoto's eyes widened and Rise turned to look at Yu, having finished the article. Shaken up already, Rise shook her head.

"There's no way she could be in here…she never performed the ritual," she stated firmly, "besides, you pushed her outside before she could have fell in."

"But…I have no idea if pushing her outside the classroom let her escape being sucked into this nexus," Yu admitted, "We have no idea if she's in here or not. Hell, we don't even know if everyone else is in here." Yu shook his head. "I don't want to believe it, but I have to know if she's ok."

"Yu…" Naoto placed a hand on his arm, "Nanako's condition is concerning, but the only things we know right now are that our friends are in here and we need to find a way out. If we find her, we'll do everything to ensure she gets out, but for now, we can't even confirm if she is in here."

"I don't want to see you worry anymore than you already are." She looked down.

"Yeah…Naoto's right. We should start one step at a time…" Rise nodded. "Besides, Nanako's a strong girl. She'll be waiting for her big brother to give her a warm smile once we get home." Rise tried her best to smile. His friends were right; worrying about Nanako might be making him a little too paranoid, but…

Yu sighed, "…alright. I'll keep an eye out for her, though."

"That's all we can do until we get rid of this place," Rise agreed, nodding her head quickly. After that, everyone seemed to be at a loss, almost as if scared to speak up or suggest anything. The already depressing atmosphere only added more pressure, more resistance towards speaking up. Yu's hand fidgeted inside his pockets as he shifted uncomfortably and soon enough, he came across something thin, something smooth and something boxy and remembered the three items Igor game to him: the tape, the chalk, and the note. However he was supposed to use them, Yu hoped they'd be useful, but he was still baffled by why he was given them or why the Velvet room produced these items without Igor knowing what they were.

Yu turned to the chalkboard with the omen on it and pulled out one of the pieces of chalk. Naoto studied him curiously as he etched a line into the board nearby one of the corners. The chalk line glowed blue before dulling. Yu then took out the piece of paper and looked at the blue pentagram with the words "for your protection" underneath. Starting small, Yu etched a small pentagram into the chalkboard with his blue chalk and drew a circle around it, making sure the circle touched each of the five points. The chalk glowed and began pulsating before a small column of light appeared around the pentagram, and as Yu touched the center of the pentagram, he began to feel energy surge back into him as if it was lending its power to him. His head cleared up slightly and his body ached much less.

"Perhaps it's some kind of purification circle?" Yu spoke up.

"Hmm…interesting," Naoto walked over to him, "where did you get that?"

Yu explained that he got them from Margaret, which wasn't too far off base. He didn't want to explain his visit to the Velvet room or what transpired there.

"I see…it makes me curious as to the purpose of the tape or the riddle left behind. 'Always one more'…" Naoto repeated the last words written on there. Yu noticed Rise standing in a corner, looking over curiously, and Yu couldn't help but think about how out of character she seemed to be. She was almost…timid, shy, nothing like how he thought he knew her. Yu recalled Rise telling him that she used to be like that before she became an idol…was this room bringing that side of her out?

Yu was going to go comfort her, but as Yu looked at Rise, an idea occurred to him.

"Wait a minute…Rise! Can't you get in contact with the others with your Persona?"

"Oh…Oh!" Rise nearly forgot she could try and contact the others to see where they are. A small glimmer of hope seemed to lighten her mood and her energy was returning.

"Of course," Naoto smacked her hand against her forehead. "It didn't occur to me to think about that!"

"I'll give it a try, Senpai," Rise nodded.

"Persona!"

* * *

"I don't like this place…" Teddie was cowering next to Yosuke, "I wanna go home…"

"Teddie, calm down, alright? We'll be fine…it's not that bad, right Kanji?" Yosuke looked to Kanji for some kind of confirmation, but Kanji's fist was balled up by his side, almost visibly constricting the blood flow in his hands.

"Y-yeah…a real man can deal with all of this. This is nothing!" Kanji raised his balled up fist and hit his chest with it, almost as if he was trying to punch the fear out of him.

"I just wish we could've had one of the girls with us," Yosuke tried to change the subject. "If we're going to be 'real men' like Kanji says we are, we could at least showed off a little." Yosuke sighed.

"I just want the girls here because they make me feel safe," Teddie was still quaking in his suit. "Yukiko would pat me on the head…and Chie would kick any scary monsters who came out to get us. Naoto could think of a way out of here…and Rise would give us moral support. But _I_ had to be stuck with the guys…and they aren't even Sensei…" Teddie whined.

"Oh, so we aren't good enough for you, fluff-ball?" Kanji punched his other palm, the smack making Teddie jump as it echoed on the walls.

"I'm pretty sure that's what he said, Kanji." Yosuke joins in with a bitter tone. They both stared daggers at Teddie.

"What are you going to do to me?" Teddie shielded his face with his arms.

"I say we just leave him here," Yosuke suggested.

"Agreed." And with that, Kanji and Yosuke walked to the door nonchalantly.

"Wait wait wait wait! You can't just leave me here!" Teddie panicked, running after them. Yosuke put out a hand, which Teddie ran into.

"Of course we wouldn't leave you…" Yosuke rolled his eyes, "But hey, you kinda deserved that."

"I…suppose I did. Sorry, Yosuke…Kanji," Teddie looked down, "I guess I'm just getting the jitters."

"S'ok, furball," Kanji petted Teddie's head. "Anyways, we don't need any girls here to make us feel better. We'll be fine by ourselves, like the three musketeers!" Kanji banged a fist against his heart, standing strongly and boldly. "We'll go in there and beat some Shadow ass to the curb!"

"Yeah, like the three musk-a-whose-its," Teddie gives Kanji a thumbs up before placing his hand over Kanji's.

"Geez, Ted…don't encourage him." Yosuke couldn't help but laugh at Kanji's proclamation, however. "I guess I'm in too." Yosuke placed a hand on top of Teddie's. "We'll find the others and get rid of this place for good!"

"All for one and one for all," Kanji chanted.

"All for one and one for all" The three of them said.

"H-hello?" A voice could be heard from the ceiling, making all three of them jump back. Yosuke looked frantically around, his mind in a whirl from the shock.

"W-What the hell was that?!" Kanji nearly shrieked, looking to Yosuke.

"I don't know! How the hell am I supposed to know?!" Yosuke snapped at Kanji.

"Was that…a ghost?" Teddie asked quietly. The damp, dark, rotting room around them seemed to only close in even more.

"Yosuke? Yosuke are you there?" the voice asked again.

"Wait a minute…Rise?" Yosuke looked to the ceiling where the voice seemed to be emanating from.

"Oh, thank goodness, you're alright. Where are you?" Rise asked.

"In a dark room…with a huge gap in the floor. It looks like an abandoned classroom for elementary students," Yosuke responded.

"It's creepy as hell in here," Kanji shouted out to Rise's voice, "Kinda leaves an impression on you, really."

"Kanji? Is that you? Is anyone else with you?"

"Kanji, Yosuke and I are all here together," Teddie told Rise, "Where are you Rise? I want a hug!"

"Is there anyone else?" Rise asked, ignoring Teddie.

"Nope," Yosuke responds this time, "Are you with anyone, Rise?"

"Yeah. Yu and Naoto are with me. We still can't find Chie, Yukiko, Marie, or Izanami…and Yu thinks Nanako might have been dragged down here too. Can you keep an eye out for her?"

"Nanako's down here too?" Teddie panicked. "We need to find her! This place is too scary for Nanako."

"Nanako…" Kanji looked down, "This isn't good. A little girl like here can't be in this place."

"Are you sure?" Yosuke had to ask.

"…We're not sure. We want to believe she isn't in here, but we can't know for sure," Rise responded. "Just tell me if you find anybody."

"We will. Where are you right now, Rise?" Yosuke asked. He thought, since they were in numbered classrooms, that maybe they could meet up somehow.

"When we went out, I remember the sign saying class 1-B," Rise responded.

"What? But that's not possible," Yosuke shook his head. "We're in classroom 1-B. The classroom has a large gap in the middle. It's impossible to miss."

"Our classroom has a huge gap too, right in the middle of it," Rise told him. "And I just had Naoto check…we're definitely in class 1-B. Does your chalkboard have writing on it?"

Yosuke looked over at the chalkboard. On the board was written…

" _ **You will never find Salvation**_ …" Yosuke spoke the dark words. Rise gasped, her reaction echoing eerily across the room, "And there's a small blue pentagram in a circle at the corner."

"A pentagram?" Yu's voice suddenly echoed across the room. It seems that Rise had opened up her channel a little more, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's definitely there, Senpai." Kanji spoke up, "Plain as day."

"I see…" Yu then explained the blue chalk he received before they came in here as well as the other objects he received. He explained that he was the one who etched in the pentagram.

"I think I get it…" Kanji came closer to Yosuke and Teddie. "We're basically in the same place, but there's more than one class 2-B, right? Maybe there are multiple copies of the school…and somehow they can interact? I dunno, man, but this is getting weird."

"Huh, intriguing." Now it was Naoto who spoke up. "I suppose that would make sense, but we can't know for sure."

"I think Kanji might be right." Teddie agreed. "I know my nose isn't the greatest, but I can't seem to smell you guys anywhere. I sniff and I sniff, but no luck!"

"I can't track anybody else in the school eith-" Rise stopped. "Wait! There seems to be two more people in the school! And it's…" Rise's voice cuts off before she can continue.

"And it's who?" Kanji looked around for Rise's voice, irritated from the anticipation. "Rise? Rise?!"

"Damn! Just when we were going to get some answers…!" Yosuke pounds a fist into his hip, then sighs, "I don't understand what's going on anymore."

"We just need to find the others, right?" Teddie suggested. "I don't understand what's going on anymore, but all we can do is try, right?"

"I suppose so," Kanji crossed his arms. "Staying here isn't going to accomplish anything."

"Agreed," Yosuke nodded, "As much as I don't like it, we need to explore the school. We stick by each other, got it?"

"Right!"

* * *

"Rise, what's the matter? Rise?!" Naoto was astonished as Rise, scared before, rushes out of the classroom. Yu and Naoto nod before rushing out after her. The endless hallways suddenly felt too short as Rise rushed by the next classroom and turned the corner, the echo from the wooden planks giving Yu and Naoto a good idea of where she is. The sliding door to class 2-A flies open and Rise enters the dark, silent room, Yu and Naoto not too far behind. The dark room feels even more oppressed by the darkness, as if under the thumb of some evil spirit, and the flicker of a candle on the other end of the room gives off the only light. A foul stench makes Yu nearly gag, barely able to hold down his stomach. This classroom was evil…he wanted to flee. But…

"Rise? Yu? Naoto?" A familiar voice can be heard from the middle of the room. From the darkness, Marie steps out, covered in blood, holding an unconscious Nanako cradled in her arms.

* * *

 **I learned something very important about writing any for of horror suspense: never write it at night. Thinking of anything and everything you can use to create an atmosphere and get yourself in the position of your characters is frankly terrifying...and while I didn't write about anything particularly terrifying when reviewing this chapter, it's really the state of mind, not the writing, that makes the experience terrifying. That's the reason why I wrote in a more comedic scene with Yosuke and co., to ease the tension a little bit (even if just for myself).**

 **As a result, this series might take a little more time to write as I can only write it sometime before I go to bed rather than at night, as I typically do, but this is a shorter series than Book Four: Light, so I'm not too concerned that I won't get it finished in due time.**

 **Hope you enjoyed and sorry for the wait. College is a lot of fun, but it really eats up time. I'll have the next chapter out soon.**


	6. Hell's Shangri-La

**Here it is...I'm glad I was finally given the time to write this after being sick and having to write 3 essays, even if writing about Heavenly Host always freaks me out to some extent...hahaha...**

 **General Disclaimer: The newspaper articles in these chapters are not my words, but direct quotations from the game as I wanted to remain true to the source material. I, in no way, own those words or that material, but am using them to further advance the fanfiction only.**

 **One more thing, I'd recommend using some kind of YouTube repeat site for the music in this chapter and in future chapters as the tracks are not very long and long extensions of these soundtracks don't really exist.**

 **With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

[Becoming Turbid – Corpse Party Blood Covered OST]

"Oh shit…oh shit, shit shit shit shit!" Yu shook his head as he turned towards the hallway, "Perfect, just fucking perfect!"

"Yu, calm down," Naoto walked in front of Yu, placing her hands on his shoulders, "She isn't awake yet. We might find a way out of here if…if…" Naoto stopped as Yu grew silent. Neither of them spoke…they just looked at each other. Moments passed. Naoto breathed in deeply and let her arms fall to her side upon exhaling. Yu nodded faintly before stumbling over to Nanako and taking her from Marie's arms. Rise walked over to Marie.

"Are you ok?" She asked in a whisper. Marie nodded.

"I fell over into some blood…damn floorboards aren't even…" She stopped, "Look, what happened to me doesn't matter." Marie looked over at Yu. "She's fine. Didn't see a thing. K?"

Yu nodded, calmer although his voice still raddled with anxiety. "I'm fine now…we'll find the others and get out of this godforsaken hellhole. We can't afford to do anything reckless until Nanako's safe."

"We'll find a way out, Senpai…leave it to me, alright?" Rise spoke softly, allowing Yu's shoulders to relax. She summoned her Persona, but as the light from her summoning her Persona flashed across the room, Rise screamed, tumbling back into the frame of the classroom door. A pool of blood sat in the middle of the classroom, bit and pieces of flesh and brain scattered across the classroom with maggots and small flies devouring the rotting meat. In the middle, a propped up corpse leaned against a wooden desk, a tattered uniform draped like rags on its bony shoulders with bits of flesh hanging off the bone as if the meat was quickly ripped off and shredded by a feral beast. More maggots crawled over the pathetic figure with flies casually flying in and out of the sockets and depressions in the bone. The skeleton's right arm was missing completely.

"What in the living fuck…" Yu gasped, his hand naturally falling over Nanako's eyes despite the fact. Naoto just remained silent, a gagging noise coming from the pit of her stomach, forcing her to hunch over in pain. She tried to breathe, but the stench, which she could previously ignore, overpowered her senses, sending her into a coughing fit. Marie shivered at the sight, holding herself close, feeling up her arms and torso as if to question whether the corpse and her were the same being. Yu shook his head, walking up to the body nervously. As he approached the body, Naoto thought she could hear a faint wailing echo from the remains, jolting her out of her nausea. Yu read the nametag on the student uniform draped over the body.

"Moriguchi Hirokichi, Class 1-A, Okina Public High School…" as Yu read those words, Naoto saw a small, blue flame emanate from inside the skeleton's rib cage.

 _Please…help me…they hurt…_ A voice came from the wisp. _Please…_ Yu distanced himself slightly from the skeleton, and Naoto could hear the slush of blood from underneath his feet. Naoto remained where she was, looking sympathetically at the little wisp.

"Yu…" Naoto began to speak, but Yu nodded before she could finish.

"I know…" he spoke, then walked back up to the body.

"Persona!" Yu commanded for Izanagi-no-Okami to be summoned, the godly figure reanimating the room with light. Yu didn't do anything at first, but instead just stood there. Naoto sighed; she's seen many bodies having worked for the police for so long, but this was just beyond horrific…nobody deserved this fate.

 _Please…if you can…_ it whispered. Yu walked up to the corpse, picking up the dangling nametag and pocketing the name. He breathed in deeply. Naoto did not dare to close her eyes.

"Agidyne!" Yu spoke as Izanagi-no-Okami summoned a great flame at the tip of his blade before burning the corpse alive, burning off the maggots and flies, drying the blood around them instantly in the intense heat. Eventually, the bones themselves began to fragment before breaking apart, falling into ash. The blue wisp, however, seemed to intensify in the heat, growing larger and larger overtime. As Yu's onslaught is complete, only the wisp remains.

 _Thank you…the pain…the pain is finally gone…_ the wisp expressed its gratitude in a hysterical, yet exhausted huff. _I haven't stopped feeling the pain since I died…but I'm not sure if it will last…_

"What do you mean?" Rise asked. Naoto was curious as well…but she was terrified of what its answer might be.

 _This school…this school is alive. And once you die…you never stop feeling it…the pain of death…_

"You feel the pain of dying?" Marie asked. "But how? Your body is dead. I thought you couldn't feel anything after death."

 _The being that governs death cannot reach us...and a hex is placed on our souls to feel the pain eternally. The school…and the demon who resides in here…they are at fault…they are the reason why we cannot reach salvation…_

"Who. Who is responsible for all of this?" Naoto pressed desperately.

 _You need to leave immediately. I can sense him…that man…_

Yu seemed confused. "Is he the one behind all of this?"

 _No…but he's very dangerous. Escape while you can! Go!_

[Evasion – Corpse Party Blood Covered OST]

And with those parting words, the spirit was gone. Marie looked around nervously while Rise tried to summon her Persona once more. Naoto and Yu guarded Rise while she scanned desperately for Yoshikazu, Nanako limp in Yu's arms. In the corner of Naoto's eye, Yu turned on a flashlight he brought in case the dungeon was going to be too dark, prompting Naoto to pull out her own. Then, from outside, heavy footsteps could be heard in the distance. Yu had no choice but to tuck Nanako under one arm while he unsheathed his katana, a fierce look in his eye. Naoto knew that Yu didn't want to treat Nanako in such a way as he awkwardly, but gently handled her, but they had little choice. Naoto pulled out two guns, each loaded with six bullets, with several more tucked away tightly in her coat. Marie, on the other hand, didn't need a weapon; she was fully capable of taking anything that came her way.

The steps grew closer…

Naoto looked towards the source, the door at the far side of the classroom, and pointed one of her guns at the door.

Thump…thump…thump…

Yu drew back his sword. Marie moved over to Yu, convincing him to let her carry his little cousin.

*CREEEEEAAAKKKK* The floorboard squealed just outside the classroom. A grumbling moan could be heard from the other side.

"I'm ready, you son of a bitch…" Yu breathed fiercely.

"AUUGGGGHHHHH!" The loud shriek of a girl could be heard outside; the patter of smaller footsteps then ran in the opposite direction of the door they all came from. The moaning from outside seemed to go after the loud voice, the heavy footsteps moving away from the classroom to hunt down the unfortunate soul outside. Soon enough, both voices faded away and the school became eerily quiet once again.

[It Continues – Corpse Party Blood Covered OST]

Everyone was silent, afraid to break the tension. It felt more like her words were squirming out of her mouth than talking, but Rise finally managed to speak.

"S-should we do something about that…from outside…" Rise shook, unable to look away from the door.

"I…I don't know what to do…" Naoto shook her head, petrified. "Whatever that was is extremely dangerous…and we don't even know how to get out of here…"

"Is there any way you can track where they are, Rise?" Yu asked, his voice rattled. "We should at least try and do something…"

"Should I go after it?" Marie asked, her face determined. Naoto was shocked by Marie's composure, and even slightly embarrassed by herself, but this was Marie after all; nothing seemed to get to her, perhaps due to her goddess-hood. Naoto shook her head.

"Separating is the worst thing we could be doing right now. If we're going to go after…that" A chill fired up Naoto's spine. "…we should stay together and take it out before it notices us."

"Whoever it was outside…they are still on the move." Rise reported before inhaling deeply, likely trying to conquer her nerves. "I don't think they've been caught yet…but I have worse news…"

"I can't track any of the enemies in this school…I can usually figure out where people and Shadows are, but whatever that was out there wasn't a Shadow...and chances are, it wasn't alive either…"

Yu and Naoto gulped. What the hell was out there? Whatever it was, they couldn't track it and get the jump on it…and even if they could, Naoto didn't want to find out. She could only hope the others could be found before they found an exit…no, _if_ they could find an exit.

"I'll keep looking for it as well as a way out. Just sit tight…" And with that, Rise returned to her intense focus, allowing her Persona to guide the way.

Naoto turned around, facing the inner part of the classroom over where Marie was holding Naoto, deciding to examine the room a bit more while they waited. Naoto's industrial grade flashlight easily lit the whole room, so she placed the light on top of a desk, getting a better look at where they were. Unfortunately, that meant Naoto had to see _everything_ : the messages scratched into the wall, the blood sprayed on parts of the floors and walls, the thousands of dead fly carcasses on the floor and desks, and another dead body hiding in the corner, this time a mere skeleton wrapped in its former clothing.

After having the misfortune of examining the room, Naoto made sure that all the classroom doors were shut, asking for Yu to keep an eye on the outside. Then she made her way to the other skeleton in the corner, noticing another nametag. She pocketed the tag, curious to see how many of these nametags could shed some light on the random kidnapping cases that lead her to the Sachiko charm. She wanted to talk to Yu about the tags, but their leader hardly seemed in a responsive state after encountering Nanako in this…nightmare of a school.

Upon examination, Naoto also came across another newspaper article sitting on a nearby desk, a continuation piece on the 1973 murders:

" _'Third Student Reported Missing'_

 _One by one, the young students of Heavenly Host _ School seem to be disappearing, as now a third student has joined the ranks of the missing. Classmates testify that fifth-grader _ was on her way home from school, but got separated from her friends in the hall and hasn't been seen since. Police are investigating the possibility of a serial kidnapping and have assigned countless investigators to the case in hopes of a speedy resolution. However, ten days have already passed since the first disappearance, giving parents and classmates ample cause for concern._ "

"But why are these here…?" Naoto muttered to herself, curious. If this school is behind the disappearances of students all across Japan, it was clear to her that these disappearances decades ago will reveal the truth behind why this is happening, but she needed more information. The 1973 case is clearly linked to this school, which is the epicenter of the mystery behind the charm, but how does any of this involve the TV World? Was this space created by the man with the scissors after being pushed into a TV? How is Sachiko related to all of this and how was the charm created and popularized? Naoto felt both relieved and suspicious that information was being offered about this school so easily to her, but information might be their only hope of unraveling the mystery behind this school...and maybe even getting out of here.

Naoto turned around and, despite knowing it was there, recoiled again upon seeing the rotting corpse. The stench seemed to only get worse and Naoto could tell that none of them could tolerate the corpse much longer, but they feared going beyond the doors. Anything could await them out there, but staying in this room posed to be just as dangerous. All Naoto could hope is that their Personas were strong enough to defend them, even if these beings weren't exactly Shadows.

"We should move out." Yu walked away from the door towards the center of the room. "We have no idea when _he_ will return or if anything else might be after us. I don't want to be sitting ducks. Finding the others and getting Nanako out of here is top priority."

"I agree." Marie spoke up. "Although I'm not sure if it's as simple as getting out of here now."

"What do you mean?" Rise asked, moving closer to Marie.

"It means the Nose was right about needing to collapse the school. I've been trying to get a read on this place since we've been here…this place is far different from any other place in the television world." Marie paced uncomfortable around the room, trying to gather her thoughts. "Other than the multiple nexuses, it feels like the school itself is…alive. It's as if the school's one giant organism centered on a powerful Shadow whose gone haywire…meaning that Shadow is what we have to defeat. Getting out of here is like trying to punch a hole in a safe. Only the right combination will get us out."

"Isn't that analogy a little off, though?" Naoto questioned. "Safes are meant to keep people out, not in."

"The analogy may be backwards, but the logic still holds." Yu countered. "Anybody can get into Heavenly Host, but it seems nearly impossible to get out. It's as if we're being locked in from the inside."

"That's not all. If we die here, it's as that spirit told us…this space is acting as a cage for any spirits who perish here, meaning they cannot join the Great Divine upon dying. This area effectively becomes an alternative afterlife, an underworld where the dead must suffer eternally."

"That's horrible…" Rise clutched her uniform around her chest. "All of those people suffering…we can't just let this be. It's too cruel."

"Nanako…" Yu walked over to Marie, looking at the passed out Nanako. He stroked his hand through her hair endearingly. "It's all my fault that you got into this…I promise I'll get you out."

[Puzzled – Corpse Party Blood Covered OST]

"We should get moving." Naoto moved towards the far door. "If the only way we can find the others is collapsing the space, we should look for a way to do so. I don't know where to begin, but there has to be clues."

Naoto then grabbed her industrial sized flashlight and moved to the door. Everyone gathered nearby her in anticipation as Naoto placed her ear on the door. She listened for nearly a minute, then probed for any sign of activity outside with the limited amount of vision the crack through the door offered once she felt safe enough. What would be waiting out there? Was it really safe? How far would they make it? Would they be able to find a way out and find the clues necessary to end the case? All of these questions cluttered Naoto's brain, which she desperately tried to repress so she could focus.

"Alright, I think we should be fine." She whispered. Naoto opened the door into the hall and the four of them piled out into the hallway.

"Oh sh-!" Yu yelled, ducking as a sledgehammer was swung at his face. Naoto managed to catch Yu before he could go tumbling back. Out of the darkness, hiding in the one blind spot from the classroom, a large, decomposing man with glowing red eyes limply walked towards them, heavy steps inkling closer and closer. He took another swing at Yu, who managed to block with his Katana just in time. It took all of his strength; however, as Naoto felt Yu nearly collapse onto the floor from blocking the impact, barely able to maintain stance.

"W-what the hell is that?!" Rise shrieked. "It's not a Shadow…but it's not alive! It must be…but I thought…"

"Too late," Naoto shot at the man's head, three point blank shots to the head, knocking him back. This alleviated pressure from Yu, who managed to get back onto his feet.

[Fear – Corpse Party Blood Covered OST]

"Izanagi-no-Okami!" the Persona was summoned, illuminating the hallway. "Agidyne!" And with the order, Yu's Persona threw a barrage of fire at the zombie-like man, the fire consuming his form. Anything organic wouldn't have survived that flame…

Or so he thought. Where a charcoaled man should have stood, a dark aura festered around him instead. The darkness seemed to heal the wounds inflicted as he appeared no different than before: no bullet holes and lacking of any burns. Even his tattered clothing remained seemingly untouched.

"What the fuck!" Marie's eye widened. "Megidolaon!" Soon enough, Marie's Almighty spell descended upon the man, the bright illuminating spell knocking him back against the wall. Gruesomely, his limbs were torn apart from his body, scattering towards different parts of the hallway and his chest was split open like an abyss, likely due to his body's outright horrid condition. Confident in her godlike abilities Marie sighed in relief, but her sigh soon turned into a gasp. Once again, the darkness soon shrouded the man and his limbs, the festering aura pulling the zombie back together, albeit slower this time.

"Run!" Yu make the call to retreat and Naoto realized in that moment this was a battle they could not win. The school itself seemed to be allying with the man, their Personas merely a hindrance to a seemingly unavoidable fate. Running was their only option…but where would be safe? They couldn't return to the classroom they were just in nor where they started off.

All they could do is run until he was far behind them…continue to survive and look for clues…and hopefully live long enough to get out of here.

* * *

 **Stay Golden, everyone!**


End file.
